In 2025, fire departments serving Westville responded to 100 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $120K 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 67% of all calls.
Sep peaks. Feb dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
392 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $878K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 59 | — | |
| 2022 | 62 | +5.1% | |
| 2023 | 67 | +8.1% | |
| 2024 | 104 | +55.2% | |
| 2025 | 100 | -3.8% |
For the 6 building fires Westville departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 105 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 | 41 | 39.0% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 23 | 21.9% | |
| 3 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 7 | 6.7% | |
| 4 | Cooking area, kitchen | 4 | 3.8% | |
| 5 | Other | 3 | 2.9% | |
| 6 | Exterior stairway, ramp, or fire escape | 2 | 1.9% | |
| 7 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 2 | 1.9% | |
| 8 | Heating room or area, water heater area | 2 | 1.9% | |
| 9 | Ceiling & floor assembly, crawl space b/t stories | 2 | 1.9% | |
| 10 | Wall surface: exterior | 2 | 1.9% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 17 | 16.2% |
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 Westville mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 75 | 71.4% | |
| 2 | Heat source: other | 7 | 6.7% | |
| 3 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 3 | 2.9% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 3 | 2.9% | |
| 5 | Hot ember or ash | 3 | 2.9% | |
| 6 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 2 | 1.9% | |
| 7 | Cigarette lighter | 2 | 1.9% | |
| 8 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 1 | 1.0% | |
| 9 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 1 | 1.0% | |
| 10 | Molten, hot material | 1 | 1.0% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 7 | 6.7% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Westville departments in 2025. These 4 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $120,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $50,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $20,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $50 | Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Westville sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 18 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 710 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 150 | 41.7 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 100 | 41.8 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 100 | 15.2 mi | |
| 2007 | Equipment and vehicle use | 50 | 30.9 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 50 | 33.8 mi | |
| 2001 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 40 | 49.4 mi | |
| 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 40 | 45.5 mi | |
| 2007 | Equipment and vehicle use | 35 | 30.9 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 25 | 13.2 mi | |
| 2018 | Equipment and vehicle use | 20 | 35.2 mi | |
| 2011 | Debris and open burning | 20 | 17.8 mi | |
| 2011 | Debris and open burning | 15 | 12.7 mi |
Top 3 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 Westville. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Westville.
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.