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2025 County Report

Fires in Brown County, IL

In 2025, fire departments serving Brown County responded to 6 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $500 property loss.

2,751 residents FIPS 17009 14 cities · 3 fire depts
Total incidents
6
61 across 5 years
Building fires
0
1 wildland
Property loss
$500
$500 structure · $0 contents
Casualties
0 / 0
0 civ deaths · 0 civ inj · 0 FF inj
01 The mix

What kinds of fires happen here?

Fire, other lead by count. Top five categories make up about 100% of all calls.

6
Total Incidents
Fire, other 4 66.7%
Cultivated vegetation, crop fire, other 1 16.7%
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) 1 16.7%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in Brown County?

Jun peaks. Jan dips.

Jan 0
Feb 0
Mar 1
Apr 1
May 0
Jun 2
Jul 1
Aug 0
Sep 0
Oct 0
Nov 1
Dec 0
03 Five-year trend

Year over year in Brown County

61 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 10
2022 22
2023 10
2024 13
2025 6
04 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 0 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional
50%
2
Cause undetermined
0%
0
Intentional / arson
50%
2
Equipment / heat source failure
0%
0
Under investigation
0%
0
Act of nature (lightning)
0%
0
05 The biggest fires

1 fires · $500 in losses

Largest single-incident property losses in Brown County during 2025. These 1 fires alone account for 100% of the county's total.

#Property lossCityTypeSeverity
1 $500 Mt Sterling Fire, other Significant
06 How Brown County compares

Brown County vs IL vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

2.18
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Brown County
2.18
IL avg
10.42
US avg
7.15
0
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Brown County
0
IL avg
1.56
US avg
0.82
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
Brown County
0
IL avg
9.9
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in Brown County

12 cities mapped to FIPS 17009.

08 First responders

Busiest fire departments in Brown County

3 departments report from this county.

VERSAILLES FPD
Versailles
FDID BC144 5 incidents 15 vol
Brown County Rural FPD
—
FDID BC114 0 incidents 20 vol
MT STERLING FD
—
FDID BC124 0 incidents 20 vol
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.