In 2025, fire departments serving Spring Grove responded to 92 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $325K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Building fires lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 81% of all calls.
Dec peaks. Jan dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
374 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $1.4M cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 44 | — | |
| 2022 | 61 | — | |
| 2023 | 99 | +62.3% | |
| 2024 | 78 | -21.2% | |
| 2025 | 92 | +17.9% |
* Well below Spring Grove'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 36 building fires Spring Grove departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 41 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 | Undetermined | 13 | 31.7% | |
| 2 | Wall surface: exterior | 4 | 9.8% | |
| 3 | Other | 2 | 4.9% | |
| 4 | Bathroom, checkroom, lavatory, locker room | 2 | 4.9% | |
| 5 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 2 | 4.9% | |
| 6 | Vehicle area, other | 2 | 4.9% | |
| 7 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 2 | 4.9% | |
| 8 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 2 | 4.9% | |
| 9 | Exterior stairway, ramp, or fire escape | 1 | 2.4% | |
| 10 | Cooking area, kitchen | 1 | 2.4% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 10 | 24.4% |
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 Spring Grove mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 21 | 51.2% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 6 | 14.6% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 4 | 9.8% | |
| 4 | Hot ember or ash | 3 | 7.3% | |
| 5 | Heat source: other | 1 | 2.4% | |
| 6 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 1 | 2.4% | |
| 7 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 2.4% | |
| 8 | Molten, hot material | 1 | 2.4% | |
| 9 | Explosive, fireworks, other | 1 | 2.4% | |
| 10 | Sunlight | 1 | 2.4% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 1 | 2.4% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Spring Grove departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $325,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $120,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $100,000 | Self-propelled motor home or recreational vehicle | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $50,000 | Camper or recreational vehicle (RV) fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $5,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $3,000 | Trash or rubbish fire, contained | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $1,500 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Spring Grove sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
6 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 | 0 | |
| 40-49 | 3 | |
| 50-59 | 1 | |
| 60-69 | 0 | |
| 70-79 | 0 | |
| 80+ | 1 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 2,801 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 | 22.5 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 450 | 21.2 mi | |
| 2018 | Debris and open burning | 252 | 46.7 mi | |
| 2010 | Natural | 200 | 30.0 mi | |
| 2010 | Natural | 180 | 29.5 mi | |
| 2010 | Equipment and vehicle use | 80 | 13.0 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 80 | 6.8 mi | |
| 2020 | Arson/incendiarism | 76 | 24.5 mi | |
| 2003 | Recreation and ceremony | 75 | 32.0 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 60 | 19.8 mi | |
| 2010 | Debris and open burning | 53 | 27.5 mi | |
| 2014 | Arson/incendiarism | 50 | 35.2 mi |
Top 4 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 Spring Grove. 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.