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2025 County Report

Fires in Adams County, IL

In 2025, fire departments serving Adams County responded to 677 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $3.5M property loss.

47,275 residents FIPS 17001 33 cities · 12 fire depts
Total incidents
677
3,559 across 5 years
Building fires
76
74 wildland
Property loss
$10.9M
$9.9M structure · $1.0M contents
Casualties
0 / 13
0 civ deaths · 4 civ inj · 9 FF inj
01 The mix

What kinds of fires happen here?

Building fires lead by count. Top five categories make up about 46% of all calls.

677
Total Incidents
Building fires 76 11.2%
Unauthorized burning 69 10.2%
Power line down 67 9.9%
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) 56 8.3%
Electrical wiring/equipment problem, other 41 6.1%
All other categories 368 54.4%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in Adams County?

Mar peaks. Dec dips.

Jan 47
Feb 45
Mar 109
Apr 70
May 47
Jun 57
Jul 70
Aug 52
Sep 54
Oct 55
Nov 55
Dec 16
03 Five-year trend

Year over year in Adams County

3,559 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 767
2022 684
2023 730
2024 701
2025 677
04 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 76 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional
53%
71
Cause undetermined
16%
21
Intentional / arson
8%
11
Equipment / heat source failure
11%
15
Under investigation
10%
14
Act of nature (lightning)
2%
1
05 The biggest fires

10 fires · $8.5M in losses

Largest single-incident property losses in Adams County during 2025. These 10 fires alone account for 86% of the county's total.

#Property lossCityTypeSeverity
1 $3,473,100 QUINCY Building fires Major
2 $2,444,440 QUINCY Building fires Major
3 $685,300 QUINCY Building fires Major
4 $482,200 QUINCY Building fires Major
5 $428,300 QUINCY Building fires Major
6 $234,318 QUINCY Building fires Significant
7 $210,400 QUINCY Building fires Significant
8 $190,000 Liberty Building fires Significant
9 $166,565 QUINCY Building fires Significant
10 $155,300 QUINCY Building fires Significant
06 How Adams County compares

Adams County vs IL vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

14.32
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Adams County
14.32
IL avg
10.42
US avg
7.15
1.61
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Adams County
1.61
IL avg
1.56
US avg
0.82
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
Adams County
0
IL avg
9.9
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in Adams County

12 cities mapped to FIPS 17001.

08 First responders

Busiest fire departments in Adams County

12 departments report from this county.

QUINCY FD
—
FDID AA211 437 incidents 66 paid
TRITOWNSHIP FPD
—
FDID AA222 105 incidents 7 paid
PAYSONFALL CREEK FPD
—
FDID AA194 40 incidents 28 vol
CAMP POINT FPD
—
FDID AA113 29 incidents
Mendon VFPD
—
FDID AA184 23 incidents
09 Historical wildfires

Largest fires recorded in IL

Top 10 fire perimeters by acres burned (state-scoped fallback while we build out per-county polygons).

#NameYearAgencyAcres
1 Red Shale RX 2024 FWS 1,290
2 Herrin Flats RX 2024 FWS 1,134
3 Beach RX 2024 FWS 864
4 Hampton North RX 2024 FWS 708
5 Hampton RX 2024 FWS 668
6 Grassy Creek 2 RX 2024 FWS 621
7 Chamness RX 2024 FWS 610
8 Greenbriar RX 2024 FWS 590
9 COR - Devils Kitchen West RX 2024 FWS 468
10 Smith RX 2024 FWS 366

About this data

County-level NFIRS aggregates for 2025, plus 5-year totals across 2021–2025. NFIRS is voluntary — about 23,000 of roughly 30,000 US fire departments report — so totals are a strong indicator, not a complete census. Wildfire risk score (0–100) and Expected Annual Loss come from FEMA's National Risk Index. Drought class is the most recent USDM classification (D0 = abnormally dry through D4 = exceptional drought). Historical fire perimeters are sourced from the NIFC InterAgency Fire Perimeter History.