In 2025, fire departments serving Sycamore responded to 197 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $200K 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.
Oct peaks. Feb dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
816 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $1.6M cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 166 | — | |
| 2022 | 134 | -19.3% | |
| 2023 | 160 | +19.4% | |
| 2024 | 159 | -0.6% | |
| 2025 | 197 | +23.9% |
For the 30 building fires Sycamore departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 212 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 | 38 | 17.9% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 36 | 17.0% | |
| 3 | Undetermined | 25 | 11.8% | |
| 4 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 15 | 7.1% | |
| 5 | Cooking area, kitchen | 14 | 6.6% | |
| 6 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 14 | 6.6% | |
| 7 | Other | 8 | 3.8% | |
| 8 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 5 | 2.4% | |
| 9 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 5 | 2.4% | |
| 10 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 5 | 2.4% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 47 | 22.2% |
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 Sycamore mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 109 | 51.4% | |
| 2 | Hot ember or ash | 19 | 9.0% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 12 | 5.7% | |
| 4 | Heat source: other | 10 | 4.7% | |
| 5 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 10 | 4.7% | |
| 6 | Arcing | 9 | 4.2% | |
| 7 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 7 | 3.3% | |
| 8 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 6 | 2.8% | |
| 9 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 5 | 2.4% | |
| 10 | Cigarette | 4 | 1.9% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 21 | 9.9% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Sycamore departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 92% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $200,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $150,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $75,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $60,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $30,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $30,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $20,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $20,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Sycamore sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 1,791 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 500 | 47.9 mi | |
| 2012 | Debris and open burning | 210 | 48.1 mi | |
| 2010 | Debris and open burning | 100 | 25.9 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 80 | 34.4 mi | |
| 2003 | Recreation and ceremony | 75 | 10.1 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 70 | 25.1 mi | |
| 2017 | Natural | 60 | 48.0 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 52 | 41.3 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 50 | 39.1 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 50 | 38.4 mi | |
| 2013 | Debris and open burning | 50 | 45.9 mi | |
| 2014 | Arson/incendiarism | 50 | 18.0 mi |
Top 6 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 Sycamore. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Sycamore.
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.