In 2025, fire departments serving Steeleville responded to 20 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $150K 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 75% of all calls.
Jul peaks. May dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
80 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $448K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 7 | — | |
| 2022 | 16 | — | |
| 2023 | 17 | +6.2% | |
| 2024 | 20 | +17.6% | |
| 2025 | 20 | +0.0% |
* Well below Steeleville'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 5 building fires Steeleville departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 20 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 | 6 | 30.0% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 3 | 15.0% | |
| 3 | Exterior, exposed surface | 3 | 15.0% | |
| 4 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 2 | 10.0% | |
| 5 | Outside area, other | 2 | 10.0% | |
| 6 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 1 | 5.0% | |
| 7 | Wall assembly | 1 | 5.0% | |
| 8 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 1 | 5.0% | |
| 9 | Vacant structural area | 1 | 5.0% |
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 Steeleville mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Arcing | 5 | 25.0% | |
| 2 | Hot ember or ash | 5 | 25.0% | |
| 3 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 3 | 15.0% | |
| 4 | Flying brand, ember, spark | 3 | 15.0% | |
| 5 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 1 | 5.0% | |
| 6 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 1 | 5.0% | |
| 7 | Cigarette | 1 | 5.0% | |
| 8 | Lightning | 1 | 5.0% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Steeleville departments in 2025. These 4 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $150,000 | Fire in motor home, camper, recreational vehicle | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $3,500 | Fire in mobile home used as fixed residence | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $2,500 | Fire in mobile home used as fixed residence | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $1,000 | Fire in mobile home used as fixed residence | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Steeleville sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 2,918 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | Arson/incendiarism | 409 | 30.0 mi | |
| 2005 | Natural | 225 | 36.5 mi | |
| 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 225 | 24.5 mi | |
| 2005 | Debris and open burning | 160 | 21.9 mi | |
| 2002 | Natural | 150 | 36.3 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 150 | 47.0 mi | |
| 2004 | Debris and open burning | 150 | 22.0 mi | |
| 1992 | Debris and open burning | 125 | 45.8 mi | |
| 2011 | Debris and open burning | 120 | 28.6 mi | |
| 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 112 | 40.7 mi | |
| 1992 | Recreation and ceremony | 110 | 36.4 mi | |
| 1995 | Arson/incendiarism | 102 | 28.9 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 Steeleville. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Steeleville.
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.