In 2025, fire departments serving Wapella responded to 20 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $100K 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 60% of all calls.
Dec peaks. Jan dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
107 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2021. $120K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 34 | — | |
| 2022* | 8 | — | |
| 2023 | 23 | — | |
| 2024 | 22 | -4.3% | |
| 2025 | 20 | -9.1% |
* Well below Wapella'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.
For the 3 building fires Wapella departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 15 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 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 3 | 20.0% | |
| 2 | Cargo/trunk area - all vehicles | 2 | 13.3% | |
| 3 | Entrance way, lobby | 1 | 6.7% | |
| 4 | Storage area, other | 1 | 6.7% | |
| 5 | Storage: supplies or tools; dead storage | 1 | 6.7% | |
| 6 | Substructure area or space, crawl space | 1 | 6.7% | |
| 7 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 1 | 6.7% | |
| 8 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 1 | 6.7% | |
| 9 | Outside area, other | 1 | 6.7% | |
| 10 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 1 | 6.7% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 2 | 13.3% |
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 Wapella mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 4 | 26.7% | |
| 2 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 3 | 20.0% | |
| 3 | Heat, spark from friction | 2 | 13.3% | |
| 4 | Hot ember or ash | 2 | 13.3% | |
| 5 | Match | 2 | 13.3% | |
| 6 | Arcing | 1 | 6.7% | |
| 7 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 1 | 6.7% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Wapella departments in 2025. These 3 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $5,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $1,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Wapella sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 1,550 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 375 | 49.1 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 200 | 42.4 mi | |
| 2018 | Equipment and vehicle use | 80 | 22.6 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 75 | 39.0 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 75 | 43.8 mi | |
| 2010 | Debris and open burning | 50 | 40.9 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 50 | 8.0 mi | |
| 2007 | Equipment and vehicle use | 50 | 40.5 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 50 | 45.7 mi | |
| 2010 | Debris and open burning | 50 | 30.3 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 50 | 41.9 mi | |
| 2012 | Equipment and vehicle use | 40 | 41.5 mi |
Top 2 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 Wapella. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Wapella.
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.