In 2025, fire departments serving Swansea responded to 106 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $15K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Power line down lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 61% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Feb dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
497 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $754K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 86 | — | |
| 2022 | 84 | -2.3% | |
| 2023 | 115 | +36.9% | |
| 2024 | 106 | -7.8% | |
| 2025 | 106 | +0.0% |
For the 6 building fires Swansea departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 151 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 | 45 | 29.8% | |
| 2 | Cooking area, kitchen | 40 | 26.5% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 12 | 7.9% | |
| 4 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 10 | 6.6% | |
| 5 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 6 | 4.0% | |
| 6 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 5 | 3.3% | |
| 7 | Wall surface: exterior | 5 | 3.3% | |
| 8 | Courtyard, patio, porch, terrace | 3 | 2.0% | |
| 9 | Undetermined | 3 | 2.0% | |
| 10 | Other | 2 | 1.3% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 20 | 13.2% |
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 Swansea mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cigarette lighter | 42 | 27.8% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 28 | 18.5% | |
| 3 | Undetermined | 27 | 17.9% | |
| 4 | Hot ember or ash | 11 | 7.3% | |
| 5 | Heat source: other | 10 | 6.6% | |
| 6 | Arcing | 9 | 6.0% | |
| 7 | Fireworks | 5 | 3.3% | |
| 8 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 4 | 2.6% | |
| 9 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 3 | 2.0% | |
| 10 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 3 | 2.0% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 9 | 6.0% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Swansea departments in 2025. These 4 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $15,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $1,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $500 | Cooking fire, confined to container | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $50 | Outside rubbish, trash or waste fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Swansea sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 3,326 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,475 | 41.2 mi | |
| 1997 | Debris and open burning | 270 | 47.4 mi | |
| 2005 | Natural | 225 | 31.3 mi | |
| 2002 | Natural | 150 | 31.6 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 150 | 46.8 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 80 | 20.0 mi | |
| 2013 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 80 | 42.1 mi | |
| 2007 | Equipment and vehicle use | 80 | 35.9 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 80 | 48.7 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 75 | 44.5 mi | |
| 2020 | Debris and open burning | 60 | 27.9 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 60 | 46.5 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 Swansea. 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.