In 2025, fire departments serving Winchester responded to 12 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $40K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Grass fire lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 83% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Jan dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
70 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $582K cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 14 | — | |
| 2022 | 19 | +35.7% | |
| 2023 | 14 | -26.3% | |
| 2024 | 11 | -21.4% | |
| 2025 | 12 | +9.1% |
For the 2 building fires Winchester departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 48 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 | 10 | 20.8% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 8 | 16.7% | |
| 3 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 7 | 14.6% | |
| 4 | Vehicle area, other | 5 | 10.4% | |
| 5 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 3 | 6.2% | |
| 6 | Cooking area, kitchen | 2 | 4.2% | |
| 7 | Bathroom, checkroom, lavatory, locker room | 2 | 4.2% | |
| 8 | Equipment or service area, other | 2 | 4.2% | |
| 9 | Attic: vacant, crawl space above top story, cupola | 2 | 4.2% | |
| 10 | Undetermined | 2 | 4.2% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 5 | 10.4% |
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 Winchester mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 16 | 33.3% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 6 | 12.5% | |
| 3 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 4 | 8.3% | |
| 4 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 3 | 6.2% | |
| 5 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 3 | 6.2% | |
| 6 | Match | 3 | 6.2% | |
| 7 | Flying brand, ember, spark | 3 | 6.2% | |
| 8 | Arcing | 2 | 4.2% | |
| 9 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 2 | 4.2% | |
| 10 | Cigarette | 2 | 4.2% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 4 | 8.3% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Winchester departments in 2025. These 5 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $40,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $25,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $15,000 | Vehicle accident, general cleanup | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $5,000 | Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $5,000 | Vehicle accident, general cleanup | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Winchester sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 5,236 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,475 | 43.5 mi | |
| 1992 | Debris and open burning | 1,050 | 36.7 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 835 | 40.7 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 210 | 39.9 mi | |
| 1999 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 200 | 40.7 mi | |
| 1999 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 150 | 40.7 mi | |
| 1994 | Arson/incendiarism | 140 | 39.3 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 140 | 20.8 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 100 | 29.7 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 100 | 40.6 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 96 | 23.1 mi | |
| 2007 | Equipment and vehicle use | 80 | 42.8 mi |
Top 2 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 Winchester. 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.