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2025 Annual Fire Report

Fires in Villa Grove, Illinois

In 2025, fire departments serving Villa Grove responded to 10 fire and hazmat incidents . Here's the full picture.

Updated Sep 27, 2026 Grade A Peak yr 2022 Douglas County 2,418 residents 0 reporting departments 44 5-yr
Total incidents
10
Not comparable with 2024 (incomplete reporting)
Building fires
7
Residential 57% Other 43%
Property loss
$0
$0 structure · $0 contents
Deaths & injuries
0 / 0
0 civilian deaths · 0 civ injuries · 0 firefighter injuries
01 The mix

What kinds of fires happen here?

Building fires lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 100% of all calls.

10
Total Incidents
Building fires 7 70.0%
Fire, other 1 10.0%
Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire 1 10.0%
Cultivated vegetation, crop fire, other 1 10.0%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen?

Apr peaks. Jan dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.

Jan 0
Feb 0
Mar 0
Apr 8
May 0
Jun 0
Jul 0
Aug 1
Sep 0
Oct 1
Nov 0
Dec 0
Fewer
More
2b Five-year trend

Year over year in Villa Grove

44 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $535K cumulative property loss.

YearIncidentsYoY 
2021 8 —
2022 11 +37.5%
2023 10 -9.1%
2024* 5 —
2025 10 —

* Well below Villa Grove's usual volume. That almost always means one or more departments didn't submit a full year to NFIRS, not that fires dropped, so no year-over-year change is shown for it.

03 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 7 building fires Villa Grove departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.

Unintentional
0%
0
Cause undetermined
0%
0
Intentional / arson
0%
0
Equipment / heat source failure
0%
0
Under investigation
100%
1
Act of nature (lightning)
0%
0
3b Where fires start

Where do fires start in Villa Grove?

NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 6 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 originCountShare 
1 Undetermined 5 83.3%
2 Other 1 16.7%
3c What ignited it

What actually ignited the fire?

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 Villa Grove mix.

#Heat sourceCountShare 
1 Undetermined 5 83.3%
2 Hot ember or ash 1 16.7%
05 How Villa Grove compares

Villa Grove vs Illinois vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Villa Grove sits below the national average for incidents per resident.

4.14
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Villa Grove
4.14
IL avg
10.41
US avg
7.48
2.89
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Villa Grove
2.89
IL avg
1.55
US avg
0.85
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
Villa Grove
0
IL avg
9.9
US avg
5.9
5c Wildfires nearby

Wildfires within 50 mi of Villa Grove

Top 24 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 972 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.

50 mi radius
YearCauseAcresDistance 
2003 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 150 47.4 mi
2013 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 100 46.2 mi
2003 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 100 47.8 mi
2010 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 100 39.7 mi
2014 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 60 45.2 mi
2007 Equipment and vehicle use 50 14.1 mi
2014 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 50 31.0 mi
2005 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 40 46.9 mi
2015 Debris and open burning 40 49.7 mi
2007 Equipment and vehicle use 35 14.1 mi
2009 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 30 23.9 mi
2013 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 30 39.0 mi
5d Top ZIPs

Where in Villa Grove do fires concentrate?

Top 4 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.

#ZIP5-yr incidents 
1 61956 41
2 61863 1
3 61919 1
4 61953 1
5e Peer cities

Cities similar to Villa Grove

Six Illinois cities with population within ±25% of Villa Grove. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.

07 Stay prepared

Before the next Red Flag day.

A 30-minute weekend can cut your home's exposure substantially. These four checklists are a good starting point.

About this data

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.