In 2025, fire departments serving Witt responded to 24 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $10K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Building fires lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 67% of all calls.
Sep peaks. Feb dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
119 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $199K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 10 | — | |
| 2022 | 35 | — | |
| 2023 | 22 | -37.1% | |
| 2024 | 28 | +27.3% | |
| 2025 | 24 | -14.3% |
* Well below Witt'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 6 building fires Witt departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 34 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 | 4 | 11.8% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 4 | 11.8% | |
| 3 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 4 | 11.8% | |
| 4 | Undetermined | 4 | 11.8% | |
| 5 | Other | 3 | 8.8% | |
| 6 | Wall surface: exterior | 3 | 8.8% | |
| 7 | Egress/exit, other | 2 | 5.9% | |
| 8 | Substructure area or space, crawl space | 2 | 5.9% | |
| 9 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 10 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 6 | 17.6% |
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 Witt mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 17 | 50.0% | |
| 2 | Cigarette lighter | 4 | 11.8% | |
| 3 | Match | 3 | 8.8% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 2 | 5.9% | |
| 5 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 2 | 5.9% | |
| 6 | Heat source: other | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 7 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 8 | Arcing | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 9 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 10 | Hot ember or ash | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 1 | 2.9% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Witt departments in 2025. These 1 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $10,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Witt sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 1,515 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 | 200 | 34.9 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 160 | 15.2 mi | |
| 2013 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 100 | 31.5 mi | |
| 2013 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 80 | 43.2 mi | |
| 2007 | Equipment and vehicle use | 80 | 47.6 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 80 | 17.2 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 80 | 13.9 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 80 | 8.3 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 75 | 27.5 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 60 | 23.1 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 60 | 41.8 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 50 | 49.7 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 Witt. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Witt.
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.