In 2025, fire departments serving Streator responded to 340 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $125K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Unauthorized burning lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 67% of all calls.
Nov peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
1,656 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $2.2M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 312 | — | |
| 2022 | 292 | -6.4% | |
| 2023 | 301 | +3.1% | |
| 2024 | 411 | +36.5% | |
| 2025 | 340 | -17.3% |
For the 35 building fires Streator departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 277 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 | 66 | 23.8% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 43 | 15.5% | |
| 3 | Cooking area, kitchen | 26 | 9.4% | |
| 4 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 16 | 5.8% | |
| 5 | Wall surface: exterior | 13 | 4.7% | |
| 6 | Other | 10 | 3.6% | |
| 7 | Storage area, other | 10 | 3.6% | |
| 8 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 9 | 3.2% | |
| 9 | Vehicle area, other | 7 | 2.5% | |
| 10 | Function area, other | 6 | 2.2% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 71 | 25.6% |
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 Streator mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 124 | 44.8% | |
| 2 | Hot ember or ash | 15 | 5.4% | |
| 3 | Heat source: other | 13 | 4.7% | |
| 4 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 13 | 4.7% | |
| 5 | Arcing | 13 | 4.7% | |
| 6 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 12 | 4.3% | |
| 7 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 10 | 3.6% | |
| 8 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 10 | 3.6% | |
| 9 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 9 | 3.2% | |
| 10 | Radiated heat from another fire | 8 | 2.9% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 50 | 18.1% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Streator departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 83% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $125,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $100,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $80,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $75,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $40,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $30,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Streator sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
12 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 | 2 | |
| 10-19 | 1 | |
| 20-29 | 3 | |
| 30-39 | 2 | |
| 40-49 | 2 | |
| 50-59 | 0 | |
| 60-69 | 0 | |
| 70-79 | 1 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 2,582 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | Natural | 600 | 32.7 mi | |
| 2003 | Debris and open burning | 232 | 37.9 mi | |
| 2012 | Debris and open burning | 210 | 17.1 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 200 | 24.8 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 150 | 30.6 mi | |
| 2020 | Debris and open burning | 110 | 15.1 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 100 | 30.8 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 75 | 31.1 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 70 | 32.7 mi | |
| 2016 | Natural | 67 | 37.6 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 60 | 21.8 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 60 | 18.1 mi |
Top 3 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 Streator. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Streator.
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.