In 2025, fire departments serving Springfield responded to 1,650 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $1.5M 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 53% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Jan dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
7,439 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $35.5M cumulative property loss. 5 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 1,411 | — | |
| 2022 | 1,202 | -14.8% | |
| 2023 | 1,737 | +44.5% | |
| 2024 | 1,439 | -17.2% | |
| 2025 | 1,650 | +14.7% |
For the 214 building fires Springfield departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 2,448 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 | 383 | 15.6% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 343 | 14.0% | |
| 3 | Cooking area, kitchen | 261 | 10.7% | |
| 4 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 192 | 7.8% | |
| 5 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 159 | 6.5% | |
| 6 | Other | 104 | 4.2% | |
| 7 | Vehicle area, other | 81 | 3.3% | |
| 8 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 75 | 3.1% | |
| 9 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 68 | 2.8% | |
| 10 | Exterior, exposed surface | 52 | 2.1% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 730 | 29.8% |
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 Springfield mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 1,133 | 46.3% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 248 | 10.1% | |
| 3 | Heat source: other | 159 | 6.5% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 114 | 4.7% | |
| 5 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 111 | 4.5% | |
| 6 | Cigarette lighter | 102 | 4.2% | |
| 7 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 84 | 3.4% | |
| 8 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 80 | 3.3% | |
| 9 | Hot ember or ash | 73 | 3.0% | |
| 10 | Cigarette | 60 | 2.5% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 284 | 11.6% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Springfield departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 35% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $1,500,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $500,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 3 | $300,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 4 | $250,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 5 | $200,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $200,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $150,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $150,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Springfield sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
124 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 | 1 | |
| 20-29 | 5 | |
| 30-39 | 27 | |
| 40-49 | 47 | |
| 50-59 | 17 | |
| 60-69 | 8 | |
| 70-79 | 0 | |
| 80+ | 2 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 1,883 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 | 44.0 mi | |
| 1999 | Debris and open burning | 250 | 45.9 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 200 | 9.7 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 160 | 40.8 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 80 | 47.5 mi | |
| 2018 | Equipment and vehicle use | 80 | 29.3 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 75 | 41.8 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 75 | 13.0 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 60 | 28.8 mi | |
| 2011 | Equipment and vehicle use | 55 | 25.6 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 50 | 34.4 mi | |
| 2003 | Debris and open burning | 50 | 42.7 mi |
Top 10 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 Springfield. 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.