In 2025, fire departments serving South Elgin responded to 148 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $175K 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 62% of all calls.
Jun peaks. Feb dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
759 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $2.8M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 146 | — | |
| 2022 | 141 | -3.4% | |
| 2023 | 143 | +1.4% | |
| 2024 | 181 | +26.6% | |
| 2025 | 148 | -18.2% |
For the 23 building fires South Elgin departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 108 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 | Outside area, other | 20 | 18.5% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 15 | 13.9% | |
| 3 | Undetermined | 13 | 12.0% | |
| 4 | Cooking area, kitchen | 8 | 7.4% | |
| 5 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 5 | 4.6% | |
| 6 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 5 | 4.6% | |
| 7 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 4 | 3.7% | |
| 8 | Equipment or service area, other | 3 | 2.8% | |
| 9 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 3 | 2.8% | |
| 10 | Attic: vacant, crawl space above top story, cupola | 3 | 2.8% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 29 | 26.9% |
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 South Elgin mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 36 | 33.3% | |
| 2 | Heat source: other | 8 | 7.4% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 8 | 7.4% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 8 | 7.4% | |
| 5 | Hot ember or ash | 7 | 6.5% | |
| 6 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 6 | 5.6% | |
| 7 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 6 | 5.6% | |
| 8 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 5 | 4.6% | |
| 9 | Chemical reaction | 4 | 3.7% | |
| 10 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 3 | 2.8% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 17 | 15.7% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by South Elgin departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $175,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $30,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $24,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $20,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $10,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $10,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $1,000 | Cultivated vegetation, crop fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $1,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. South Elgin sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
10 fire-related casualties recorded in NFIRS Module 11 across the 2021–2025 window. Age, gender, and severity are coarse-binned — no individual identification possible.
| Age | Count | |
|---|---|---|
| 0-9 | 0 | |
| 10-19 | 0 | |
| 20-29 | 1 | |
| 30-39 | 2 | |
| 40-49 | 2 | |
| 50-59 | 4 | |
| 60-69 | 1 | |
| 70-79 | 0 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 3,092 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | Misuse of fire by a minor | 750 | 38.4 mi | |
| 2003 | Natural | 600 | 45.0 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 450 | 37.6 mi | |
| 2003 | Debris and open burning | 232 | 43.9 mi | |
| 2010 | Debris and open burning | 100 | 44.8 mi | |
| 2010 | Equipment and vehicle use | 80 | 45.2 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 80 | 25.8 mi | |
| 2003 | Recreation and ceremony | 75 | 9.5 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 70 | 44.0 mi | |
| 2016 | Natural | 67 | 43.8 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 60 | 49.3 mi | |
| 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 50 | 45.0 mi |
Top 5 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 South Elgin. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in South Elgin.
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.