In 2025, fire departments serving Smithton responded to 42 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $100K 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 59% of all calls.
Oct peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
172 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $195K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 20 | — | |
| 2022 | 26 | — | |
| 2023 | 56 | +115.4% | |
| 2024 | 28 | -50.0% | |
| 2025 | 42 | +50.0% |
* Well below Smithton'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 2 building fires Smithton departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 32 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 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 7 | 21.9% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 4 | 12.5% | |
| 3 | Storage room, area, tank, or bin | 3 | 9.4% | |
| 4 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 3 | 9.4% | |
| 5 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 2 | 6.2% | |
| 6 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 2 | 6.2% | |
| 7 | Undetermined | 2 | 6.2% | |
| 8 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 1 | 3.1% | |
| 9 | Cooking area, kitchen | 1 | 3.1% | |
| 10 | Storage: supplies or tools; dead storage | 1 | 3.1% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 6 | 18.8% |
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 Smithton mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hot ember or ash | 12 | 37.5% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 6 | 18.8% | |
| 3 | Undetermined | 4 | 12.5% | |
| 4 | Heat source: other | 2 | 6.2% | |
| 5 | Lightning | 2 | 6.2% | |
| 6 | Arcing | 1 | 3.1% | |
| 7 | Fireworks | 1 | 3.1% | |
| 8 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 1 | 3.1% | |
| 9 | Match | 1 | 3.1% | |
| 10 | Cigarette lighter | 1 | 3.1% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 1 | 3.1% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Smithton departments in 2025. These 6 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $10,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $1 | Commercial Compactor fire, confined to rubbish | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $1 | Dumpster or other outside trash receptacle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $1 | Cultivated grain or crop fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $1 | Cultivated grain or crop fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Smithton sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 3,836 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,475 | 48.5 mi | |
| 1997 | Debris and open burning | 270 | 42.0 mi | |
| 2005 | Natural | 225 | 23.8 mi | |
| 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 225 | 49.0 mi | |
| 2005 | Debris and open burning | 160 | 48.6 mi | |
| 2002 | Natural | 150 | 24.1 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 150 | 39.8 mi | |
| 2004 | Debris and open burning | 150 | 47.8 mi | |
| 1997 | Smoking | 135 | 47.2 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 80 | 15.2 mi | |
| 2013 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 80 | 44.7 mi | |
| 2007 | Equipment and vehicle use | 80 | 44.8 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 Smithton. 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.