In 2025, fire departments serving West Peoria responded to 63 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $150K 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 71% of all calls.
May peaks. Feb dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
242 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $2.4M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 37 | — | |
| 2022 | 48 | +29.7% | |
| 2023 | 50 | +4.2% | |
| 2024 | 44 | -12.0% | |
| 2025 | 63 | +43.2% |
For the 24 building fires West Peoria departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 47 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 | Cooking area, kitchen | 7 | 14.9% | |
| 2 | Exterior, exposed surface | 6 | 12.8% | |
| 3 | Wall surface: exterior | 5 | 10.6% | |
| 4 | Undetermined | 5 | 10.6% | |
| 5 | Vehicle area, other | 4 | 8.5% | |
| 6 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 3 | 6.4% | |
| 7 | Storage area, other | 2 | 4.3% | |
| 8 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 2 | 4.3% | |
| 9 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 2 | 4.3% | |
| 10 | Outside area, other | 2 | 4.3% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 9 | 19.1% |
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 West Peoria mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 8 | 17.0% | |
| 2 | Heat source: other | 6 | 12.8% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 6 | 12.8% | |
| 4 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 4 | 8.5% | |
| 5 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 3 | 6.4% | |
| 6 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 3 | 6.4% | |
| 7 | Radiated heat from another fire | 3 | 6.4% | |
| 8 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 2 | 4.3% | |
| 9 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 2.1% | |
| 10 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 1 | 2.1% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 10 | 21.3% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by West Peoria departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 95% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $150,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $80,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $30,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $25,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $20,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $17,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $10,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. West Peoria sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
7 fire-related casualties recorded in NFIRS Module 11 across the 2021–2025 window. Age, gender, and severity are coarse-binned — no individual identification possible.
| Age | Count | |
|---|---|---|
| 0-9 | 2 | |
| 10-19 | 0 | |
| 20-29 | 0 | |
| 30-39 | 3 | |
| 40-49 | 1 | |
| 50-59 | 0 | |
| 60-69 | 1 | |
| 70-79 | 0 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 1,941 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 | 24.6 mi | |
| 1999 | Debris and open burning | 250 | 35.5 mi | |
| 2018 | Debris and open burning | 200 | 11.8 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 200 | 49.9 mi | |
| 2020 | Debris and open burning | 110 | 46.4 mi | |
| 2018 | Equipment and vehicle use | 80 | 41.1 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 60 | 30.2 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 60 | 41.9 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 51 | 31.8 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 50 | 40.6 mi | |
| 2010 | Debris and open burning | 50 | 45.5 mi | |
| 2018 | Debris and open burning | 45 | 32.0 mi |
Top 4 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 West Peoria. 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.