In 2025, fire departments serving Woodstock responded to 289 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $400K 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 72% of all calls.
Aug peaks. Sep dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
1,494 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $15.8M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 299 | — | |
| 2022 | 224 | -25.1% | |
| 2023 | 425 | +89.7% | |
| 2024 | 257 | -39.5% | |
| 2025 | 289 | +12.5% |
For the 33 building fires Woodstock departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 208 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 | Undetermined | 38 | 18.3% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 25 | 12.0% | |
| 3 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 22 | 10.6% | |
| 4 | Outside area, other | 16 | 7.7% | |
| 5 | Other | 15 | 7.2% | |
| 6 | Wildland, woods | 10 | 4.8% | |
| 7 | Cooking area, kitchen | 8 | 3.8% | |
| 8 | Courtyard, patio, porch, terrace | 8 | 3.8% | |
| 9 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 7 | 3.4% | |
| 10 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 7 | 3.4% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 52 | 25.0% |
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 Woodstock mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 95 | 45.7% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 21 | 10.1% | |
| 3 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 16 | 7.7% | |
| 4 | Hot ember or ash | 10 | 4.8% | |
| 5 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 9 | 4.3% | |
| 6 | Arcing | 8 | 3.8% | |
| 7 | Cigarette lighter | 6 | 2.9% | |
| 8 | Heat source: other | 5 | 2.4% | |
| 9 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 5 | 2.4% | |
| 10 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 5 | 2.4% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 28 | 13.5% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Woodstock departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 92% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $400,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $75,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $50,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $15,000 | Water vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $15,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $15,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $15,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $15,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Woodstock 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 | 0 | |
| 20-29 | 3 | |
| 30-39 | 0 | |
| 40-49 | 2 | |
| 50-59 | 1 | |
| 60-69 | 0 | |
| 70-79 | 0 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 3,177 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 | 32.8 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 500 | 47.2 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 450 | 31.5 mi | |
| 2010 | Natural | 200 | 42.4 mi | |
| 2010 | Natural | 180 | 42.0 mi | |
| 2010 | Debris and open burning | 100 | 44.0 mi | |
| 2010 | Equipment and vehicle use | 80 | 26.2 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 80 | 11.5 mi | |
| 2020 | Arson/incendiarism | 76 | 35.8 mi | |
| 2003 | Recreation and ceremony | 75 | 19.5 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 70 | 43.6 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 60 | 26.8 mi |
Top 5 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 Woodstock. 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.