In 2025, fire departments serving Streamwood responded to 202 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $300K 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 79% of all calls.
Aug peaks. Feb dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
954 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2021. $2.3M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 230 | — | |
| 2022 | 180 | -21.7% | |
| 2023 | 198 | +10.0% | |
| 2024 | 144 | -27.3% | |
| 2025 | 202 | +40.3% |
For the 62 building fires Streamwood departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 166 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 | Cooking area, kitchen | 24 | 14.5% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 20 | 12.0% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 16 | 9.6% | |
| 4 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 14 | 8.4% | |
| 5 | Undetermined | 13 | 7.8% | |
| 6 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 8 | 4.8% | |
| 7 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 7 | 4.2% | |
| 8 | Bathroom, checkroom, lavatory, locker room | 6 | 3.6% | |
| 9 | Exterior, exposed surface | 5 | 3.0% | |
| 10 | Courtyard, patio, porch, terrace | 5 | 3.0% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 48 | 28.9% |
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 Streamwood mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 33 | 19.9% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 25 | 15.1% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 18 | 10.8% | |
| 4 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 12 | 7.2% | |
| 5 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 12 | 7.2% | |
| 6 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 12 | 7.2% | |
| 7 | Heat source: other | 9 | 5.4% | |
| 8 | Hot ember or ash | 8 | 4.8% | |
| 9 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 8 | 4.8% | |
| 10 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 4 | 2.4% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 25 | 15.1% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Streamwood departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 97% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $300,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $200,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $150,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $30,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $20,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $15,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $10,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Streamwood sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
19 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 | 10 | |
| 40-49 | 5 | |
| 50-59 | 2 | |
| 60-69 | 1 | |
| 70-79 | 0 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 3,103 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 | 32.4 mi | |
| 2003 | Natural | 600 | 47.3 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 450 | 31.7 mi | |
| 2003 | Debris and open burning | 232 | 45.4 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 160 | 48.4 mi | |
| 2010 | Equipment and vehicle use | 80 | 42.5 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 80 | 23.3 mi | |
| 2003 | Recreation and ceremony | 75 | 16.0 mi | |
| 2016 | Natural | 67 | 45.3 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 60 | 48.7 mi | |
| 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 50 | 47.0 mi | |
| 2014 | Arson/incendiarism | 50 | 9.5 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 Streamwood. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Streamwood.
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.