In 2025, fire departments serving Wilmette responded to 197 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $900K 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.
Jul peaks. Jan dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
1,045 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $4.2M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 204 | — | |
| 2022 | 237 | +16.2% | |
| 2023 | 203 | -14.3% | |
| 2024 | 204 | +0.5% | |
| 2025 | 197 | -3.4% |
For the 18 building fires Wilmette departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 97 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 | Outside area, other | 14 | 14.4% | |
| 2 | Cooking area, kitchen | 10 | 10.3% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 8 | 8.2% | |
| 4 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 8 | 8.2% | |
| 5 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 6 | 6.2% | |
| 6 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 6 | 6.2% | |
| 7 | Undetermined | 6 | 6.2% | |
| 8 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 5 | 5.2% | |
| 9 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 3 | 3.1% | |
| 10 | Attic: vacant, crawl space above top story, cupola | 3 | 3.1% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 28 | 28.9% |
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 Wilmette mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 43 | 44.3% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 15 | 15.5% | |
| 3 | Hot ember or ash | 9 | 9.3% | |
| 4 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 7 | 7.2% | |
| 5 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 4 | 4.1% | |
| 6 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 3 | 3.1% | |
| 7 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 3 | 3.1% | |
| 8 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 2 | 2.1% | |
| 9 | Cigarette | 2 | 2.1% | |
| 10 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 2 | 2.1% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 7 | 7.2% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Wilmette departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $900,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $250,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 3 | $200,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $5,000 | Trash or rubbish fire, contained | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $2,200 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $1,000 | Outside equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $500 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $50 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Wilmette sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 5,618 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 | 22.6 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 450 | 22.9 mi | |
| 2002 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 396 | 39.8 mi | |
| 1993 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 341 | 39.8 mi | |
| 2012 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 291 | 39.5 mi | |
| 2019 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 274 | 40.0 mi | |
| 1995 | Debris and open burning | 253 | 41.2 mi | |
| 1996 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 244 | 39.8 mi | |
| 2019 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 216 | 39.9 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 204 | 39.4 mi | |
| 1994 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 191 | 39.7 mi | |
| 1994 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 190 | 39.0 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 Wilmette. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Wilmette.
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.