In 2025, fire departments serving Williamsville responded to 21 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $2K 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 57% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Jul dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
69 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $682K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 6 | — | |
| 2022* | 5 | — | |
| 2023 | 26 | — | |
| 2024 | 11 | -57.7% | |
| 2025 | 21 | +90.9% |
* Well below Williamsville'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 1 building fires Williamsville 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 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 7 | 46.7% | |
| 2 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 2 | 13.3% | |
| 3 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 2 | 13.3% | |
| 4 | Undetermined | 2 | 13.3% | |
| 5 | Vehicle area, other | 1 | 6.7% | |
| 6 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 1 | 6.7% |
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 Williamsville mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 5 | 33.3% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 5 | 33.3% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 1 | 6.7% | |
| 4 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 6.7% | |
| 5 | Hot ember or ash | 1 | 6.7% | |
| 6 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 1 | 6.7% | |
| 7 | Cigarette lighter | 1 | 6.7% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Williamsville departments in 2025. These 1 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $1,800 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Williamsville sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 1,732 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 | 34.3 mi | |
| 1999 | Debris and open burning | 250 | 39.9 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 200 | 14.7 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 160 | 47.3 mi | |
| 2018 | Equipment and vehicle use | 80 | 15.6 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 75 | 3.5 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 60 | 37.0 mi | |
| 2011 | Equipment and vehicle use | 55 | 33.4 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 50 | 46.4 mi | |
| 2010 | Debris and open burning | 50 | 5.6 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 50 | 33.8 mi | |
| 2015 | Debris and open burning | 40 | 38.8 mi |
Top 5 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 Williamsville. 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.