In 2025, fire departments serving Sherman responded to 37 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $125K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 84% of all calls.
Sep peaks. Jul dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
142 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2021. $392K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 41 | — | |
| 2022 | 24 | -41.5% | |
| 2023 | 25 | +4.2% | |
| 2024* | 15 | — | |
| 2025 | 37 | — |
* Well below Sherman's usual volume. That almost always means one or more departments didn't submit a full year to NFIRS, not that fires dropped, so no year-over-year change is shown for it.
For the 8 building fires Sherman departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 31 building fires investigators classified across 2021–2025. The room or location where ignition occurred — kitchens, bedrooms, exterior, vehicle areas — tells you where to focus prevention.
| # | Area of origin | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 8 | 25.8% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 5 | 16.1% | |
| 3 | Cooking area, kitchen | 3 | 9.7% | |
| 4 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 3 | 9.7% | |
| 5 | Corridor, mall | 1 | 3.2% | |
| 6 | Entrance way, lobby | 1 | 3.2% | |
| 7 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 1 | 3.2% | |
| 8 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 1 | 3.2% | |
| 9 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 1 | 3.2% | |
| 10 | Heating room or area, water heater area | 1 | 3.2% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 6 | 19.4% |
NFIRS Heat Source (HEAT_SOURC) — the physical thing that started it. Spark or ember from operating equipment, an open flame, smoking materials, or hot embers from a fireplace are the leading culprits nationwide. Here's the Sherman mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 12 | 38.7% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 3 | 9.7% | |
| 3 | Heat, spark from friction | 3 | 9.7% | |
| 4 | Cigarette lighter | 3 | 9.7% | |
| 5 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 2 | 6.5% | |
| 6 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 3.2% | |
| 7 | Arcing | 1 | 3.2% | |
| 8 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 1 | 3.2% | |
| 9 | Molten, hot material | 1 | 3.2% | |
| 10 | Hot ember or ash | 1 | 3.2% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 3 | 9.7% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Sherman departments in 2025. These 3 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $125,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $3,000 | Outside equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $100 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Sherman sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 1,709 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 375 | 37.1 mi | |
| 1999 | Debris and open burning | 250 | 40.9 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 200 | 11.9 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 160 | 45.2 mi | |
| 2018 | Equipment and vehicle use | 80 | 21.2 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 75 | 4.8 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 60 | 32.5 mi | |
| 2011 | Equipment and vehicle use | 55 | 29.0 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 50 | 41.0 mi | |
| 2010 | Debris and open burning | 50 | 0.7 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 50 | 39.3 mi | |
| 2015 | Debris and open burning | 40 | 44.0 mi |
Top 2 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
Six Illinois cities with population within ±25% of Sherman. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
A 30-minute weekend can cut your home's exposure substantially. These four checklists are a good starting point.
Numbers reflect incidents reported by participating fire departments to the National Fire Incident Reporting System (NFIRS) Public Data Release for calendar year 2025. NFIRS is voluntary — about 23,000 of roughly 30,000 US fire departments report — so totals are a strong indicator, not a complete census. Per-capita comparisons use 2023 ACS population estimates. Wildland fire data complements NFIRS with NIFC and USFS perimeters. Active-fire counts come from a dated NIFC snapshot, not a live feed.