In 2025, fire departments serving Winfield responded to 100 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $5K 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 77% of all calls.
May peaks. Feb dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
506 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $1.7M cumulative property loss. 2 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 90 | — | |
| 2022 | 80 | -11.1% | |
| 2023 | 132 | +65.0% | |
| 2024 | 104 | -21.2% | |
| 2025 | 100 | -3.8% |
For the 12 building fires Winfield departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 59 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 | 11 | 18.6% | |
| 2 | Other | 6 | 10.2% | |
| 3 | Cooking area, kitchen | 6 | 10.2% | |
| 4 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 6 | 10.2% | |
| 5 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 4 | 6.8% | |
| 6 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 3 | 5.1% | |
| 7 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 3 | 5.1% | |
| 8 | Wildland, woods | 3 | 5.1% | |
| 9 | Undetermined | 3 | 5.1% | |
| 10 | Office | 2 | 3.4% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 12 | 20.3% |
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 Winfield mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 23 | 39.0% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 7 | 11.9% | |
| 3 | Hot ember or ash | 7 | 11.9% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 6 | 10.2% | |
| 5 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 4 | 6.8% | |
| 6 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 3 | 5.1% | |
| 7 | Chemical reaction | 2 | 3.4% | |
| 8 | Heat source: other | 1 | 1.7% | |
| 9 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 1 | 1.7% | |
| 10 | Fireworks | 1 | 1.7% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 4 | 6.8% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Winfield departments in 2025. These 7 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $5,000 | Chimney or flue fire, confined to chimney or flue | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $5,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $2,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $1,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $500 | Trash or rubbish fire, contained | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $300 | Outside rubbish, trash or waste fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $50 | Special outside fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Winfield sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 6,152 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 | 40.1 mi | |
| 2003 | Natural | 600 | 37.7 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 450 | 39.6 mi | |
| 2002 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 396 | 48.6 mi | |
| 1993 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 341 | 48.5 mi | |
| 2012 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 291 | 48.0 mi | |
| 2019 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 274 | 49.4 mi | |
| 1995 | Debris and open burning | 253 | 48.7 mi | |
| 1996 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 244 | 48.4 mi | |
| 2003 | Debris and open burning | 232 | 35.6 mi | |
| 2019 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 216 | 48.6 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 204 | 47.6 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 Winfield. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Winfield.
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.