In 2025, fire departments serving Wayne responded to 18 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $7K 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 72% of all calls.
Jul peaks. Jan dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
96 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $330K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 23 | — | |
| 2022 | 17 | -26.1% | |
| 2023 | 14 | -17.6% | |
| 2024 | 24 | +71.4% | |
| 2025 | 18 | -25.0% |
For the 5 building fires Wayne departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 18 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 | Undetermined | 5 | 27.8% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 3 | 16.7% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 3 | 16.7% | |
| 4 | Cooking area, kitchen | 2 | 11.1% | |
| 5 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 2 | 11.1% | |
| 6 | Roof surface: exterior | 1 | 5.6% | |
| 7 | Vehicle area, other | 1 | 5.6% | |
| 8 | Wildland, woods | 1 | 5.6% |
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 Wayne mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 8 | 44.4% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 2 | 11.1% | |
| 3 | Lightning | 2 | 11.1% | |
| 4 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 5.6% | |
| 5 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 1 | 5.6% | |
| 6 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 1 | 5.6% | |
| 7 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 1 | 5.6% | |
| 8 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 1 | 5.6% | |
| 9 | Radiated heat from another fire | 1 | 5.6% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Wayne departments in 2025. These 4 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $7,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $5,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $2,000 | Outside storage fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $2,000 | Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Wayne sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 3,364 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | Misuse of fire by a minor | 750 | 38.8 mi | |
| 2003 | Natural | 600 | 42.1 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 450 | 38.1 mi | |
| 2003 | Debris and open burning | 232 | 40.7 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 160 | 49.2 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 150 | 49.5 mi | |
| 2010 | Debris and open burning | 100 | 47.8 mi | |
| 2010 | Equipment and vehicle use | 80 | 47.7 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 80 | 28.2 mi | |
| 2003 | Recreation and ceremony | 75 | 13.1 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 70 | 46.9 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 70 | 48.4 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 Wayne. 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.