In 2025, fire departments serving Urbana responded to 509 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $350K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 55% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
2,435 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $5.8M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 418 | — | |
| 2022 | 526 | +25.8% | |
| 2023 | 516 | -1.9% | |
| 2024 | 466 | -9.7% | |
| 2025 | 509 | +9.2% |
For the 38 building fires Urbana departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 380 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 | 71 | 18.7% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 43 | 11.3% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 41 | 10.8% | |
| 4 | Cooking area, kitchen | 35 | 9.2% | |
| 5 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 34 | 8.9% | |
| 6 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 14 | 3.7% | |
| 7 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 12 | 3.2% | |
| 8 | Vehicle area, other | 10 | 2.6% | |
| 9 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 9 | 2.4% | |
| 10 | Wall surface: exterior | 9 | 2.4% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 102 | 26.8% |
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 Urbana mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 227 | 59.7% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 23 | 6.1% | |
| 3 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 16 | 4.2% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 15 | 3.9% | |
| 5 | Hot ember or ash | 13 | 3.4% | |
| 6 | Heat source: other | 11 | 2.9% | |
| 7 | Cigarette | 10 | 2.6% | |
| 8 | Match | 9 | 2.4% | |
| 9 | Cigarette lighter | 9 | 2.4% | |
| 10 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 8 | 2.1% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 39 | 10.3% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Urbana departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 79% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $350,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $300,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 3 | $100,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $100,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $75,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Urbana sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 24 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 810 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 100 | 32.2 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 75 | 47.0 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 50 | 48.4 mi | |
| 2007 | Equipment and vehicle use | 50 | 3.5 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 50 | 48.4 mi | |
| 2010 | Debris and open burning | 50 | 47.4 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 50 | 14.0 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 40 | 43.8 mi | |
| 2015 | Debris and open burning | 40 | 40.6 mi | |
| 2007 | Equipment and vehicle use | 35 | 3.5 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 30 | 26.5 mi | |
| 2013 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 30 | 49.7 mi |
Top 9 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 Urbana. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Urbana.
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.