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2025 County Report

Fires in Franklin County, IL

In 2025, fire departments serving Franklin County responded to 665 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $150K property loss.

25,376 residents FIPS 17055 37 cities · 12 fire depts
Total incidents
665
3,136 across 5 years
Building fires
167
80 wildland
Property loss
$3.6M
$2.2M structure · $1.4M contents
Casualties
0 / 6
0 civ deaths · 0 civ inj · 6 FF inj
01 The mix

What kinds of fires happen here?

Building fires lead by count. Top five categories make up about 58% of all calls.

665
Total Incidents
Building fires 167 25.1%
Power line down 99 14.9%
Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire 43 6.5%
Outside rubbish, trash or waste fire 42 6.3%
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) 36 5.4%
All other categories 278 41.8%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in Franklin County?

Mar peaks. Nov dips.

Jan 61
Feb 40
Mar 138
Apr 55
May 44
Jun 42
Jul 40
Aug 41
Sep 54
Oct 61
Nov 26
Dec 63
03 Five-year trend

Year over year in Franklin County

3,136 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 444
2022 600
2023 723
2024 704
2025 665
04 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 167 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional
38%
85
Cause undetermined
11%
25
Intentional / arson
24%
53
Equipment / heat source failure
8%
19
Under investigation
14%
32
Act of nature (lightning)
5%
2
05 The biggest fires

10 fires · $1.2M in losses

Largest single-incident property losses in Franklin County during 2025. These 10 fires alone account for 53% of the county's total.

#Property lossCityTypeSeverity
1 $150,000 west frankfort Fires in structures other than in a building Significant
2 $150,000 West Frankfort Road freight or transport vehicle fire Significant
3 $150,000 WEST FRANKFORT Building fires Significant
4 $125,000 West Frankfort Building fires Significant
5 $110,000 West Frankfort Building fires Significant
6 $100,000 west frankfort Fires in structures other than in a building Significant
7 $100,000 WEST FRANKFORT Building fires Significant
8 $100,000 BENTON Building fires Significant
9 $100,000 ZEIGLER Building fires Significant
10 $100,000 BENTON Building fires Significant
06 How Franklin County compares

Franklin County vs IL vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

26.21
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Franklin County
26.21
IL avg
10.42
US avg
7.15
6.58
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Franklin County
6.58
IL avg
1.56
US avg
0.82
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
Franklin County
0
IL avg
9.9
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in Franklin County

12 cities mapped to FIPS 17055.

08 First responders

Busiest fire departments in Franklin County

12 departments report from this county.

BENTON FD
—
FDID FC122 251 incidents 6 paid
WEST FRANKFORT FD
—
FDID FC211 143 incidents 11 paid
EWINGNORTHERN FPD
—
FDID FC234 80 incidents 22 vol
SESSER FPD
—
FDID FC173 50 incidents 1 paid
ZEIGLER FD
ZEIGLER
FDID FC224 48 incidents 23 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.