In 2025, fire departments serving Yorkville responded to 179 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $85K 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 63% of all calls.
Nov peaks. Feb dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
802 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $3.2M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 151 | — | |
| 2022 | 141 | -6.6% | |
| 2023 | 160 | +13.5% | |
| 2024 | 171 | +6.9% | |
| 2025 | 179 | +4.7% |
For the 20 building fires Yorkville departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 244 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 | 45 | 18.4% | |
| 2 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 40 | 16.4% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 27 | 11.1% | |
| 4 | Cooking area, kitchen | 20 | 8.2% | |
| 5 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 20 | 8.2% | |
| 6 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 14 | 5.7% | |
| 7 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 12 | 4.9% | |
| 8 | Exterior, exposed surface | 6 | 2.5% | |
| 9 | Wall surface: exterior | 5 | 2.0% | |
| 10 | Wildland, woods | 5 | 2.0% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 50 | 20.5% |
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 Yorkville mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 138 | 56.6% | |
| 2 | Hot ember or ash | 16 | 6.6% | |
| 3 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 11 | 4.5% | |
| 4 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 10 | 4.1% | |
| 5 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 9 | 3.7% | |
| 6 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 7 | 2.9% | |
| 7 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 6 | 2.5% | |
| 8 | Arcing | 6 | 2.5% | |
| 9 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 5 | 2.0% | |
| 10 | Cigarette lighter | 5 | 2.0% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 31 | 12.7% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Yorkville departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 89% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $85,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $12,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $12,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $7,500 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $7,500 | Water vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $6,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $5,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $5,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Yorkville sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 2,665 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | Natural | 600 | 23.8 mi | |
| 2003 | Debris and open burning | 232 | 24.8 mi | |
| 2012 | Debris and open burning | 210 | 35.6 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 200 | 44.8 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 150 | 30.9 mi | |
| 2020 | Debris and open burning | 110 | 44.6 mi | |
| 2010 | Debris and open burning | 100 | 44.7 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 100 | 31.9 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 80 | 49.8 mi | |
| 2003 | Recreation and ceremony | 75 | 25.9 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 70 | 43.7 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 70 | 30.5 mi |
Top 3 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 Yorkville. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Yorkville.
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.