In 2025, fire departments serving Willowbrook responded to 135 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $8K 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 58% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Jan dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
597 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $1.3M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 125 | — | |
| 2022 | 96 | -23.2% | |
| 2023 | 116 | +20.8% | |
| 2024 | 125 | +7.8% | |
| 2025 | 135 | +8.0% |
For the 15 building fires Willowbrook departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 60 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 | 13 | 21.7% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 10 | 16.7% | |
| 3 | Cooking area, kitchen | 7 | 11.7% | |
| 4 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 5 | 8.3% | |
| 5 | Bathroom, checkroom, lavatory, locker room | 3 | 5.0% | |
| 6 | Exterior stairway, ramp, or fire escape | 2 | 3.3% | |
| 7 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 2 | 3.3% | |
| 8 | Vehicle area, other | 2 | 3.3% | |
| 9 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 2 | 3.3% | |
| 10 | Cargo/trunk area - all vehicles | 2 | 3.3% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 12 | 20.0% |
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 Willowbrook mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 38 | 63.3% | |
| 2 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 3 | 5.0% | |
| 3 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 3 | 5.0% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 3 | 5.0% | |
| 5 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 3 | 5.0% | |
| 6 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 3 | 5.0% | |
| 7 | Cigarette | 2 | 3.3% | |
| 8 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 1 | 1.7% | |
| 9 | Heat, spark from friction | 1 | 1.7% | |
| 10 | Molten, hot material | 1 | 1.7% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 2 | 3.3% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Willowbrook departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $8,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $2,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $1,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $1,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $1,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $750 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $500 | Dumpster or other outside trash receptacle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $200 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Willowbrook 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 | 0 | |
| 10-19 | 1 | |
| 20-29 | 1 | |
| 30-39 | 2 | |
| 40-49 | 1 | |
| 50-59 | 1 | |
| 60-69 | 1 | |
| 70-79 | 0 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 6,291 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 | 44.4 mi | |
| 2003 | Natural | 600 | 33.8 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 450 | 44.3 mi | |
| 2002 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 396 | 35.9 mi | |
| 1993 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 341 | 35.9 mi | |
| 2012 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 291 | 35.3 mi | |
| 2019 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 274 | 36.8 mi | |
| 1995 | Debris and open burning | 253 | 35.9 mi | |
| 1996 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 244 | 35.8 mi | |
| 2003 | Debris and open burning | 232 | 30.1 mi | |
| 2019 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 216 | 36.0 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 204 | 34.9 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 Willowbrook. 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.