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2025 County Report

Fires in Hamilton County, IL

In 2025, fire departments serving Hamilton County responded to 77 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $400K property loss.

3,668 residents FIPS 17065 23 cities · 2 fire depts
Total incidents
77
391 across 5 years
Building fires
25
24 wildland
Property loss
$798K
$691K structure · $107K contents
Casualties
0 / 1
0 civ deaths · 1 civ inj · 0 FF inj
01 The mix

What kinds of fires happen here?

Building fires lead by count. Top five categories make up about 73% of all calls.

77
Total Incidents
Building fires 25 32.5%
Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire 12 15.6%
Natural vegetation fire, other 10 13.0%
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) 5 6.5%
Trash or rubbish fire, contained 4 5.2%
All other categories 21 27.3%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in Hamilton County?

Mar peaks. May dips.

Jan 3
Feb 11
Mar 24
Apr 6
May 1
Jun 2
Jul 3
Aug 13
Sep 5
Oct 4
Nov 3
Dec 2
03 Five-year trend

Year over year in Hamilton County

391 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 62
2022 78
2023 93
2024 81
2025 77
04 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 25 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional
21%
6
Cause undetermined
10%
3
Intentional / arson
34%
10
Equipment / heat source failure
24%
7
Under investigation
3%
1
Act of nature (lightning)
8%
2
05 The biggest fires

10 fires · $655K in losses

Largest single-incident property losses in Hamilton County during 2025. These 10 fires alone account for 95% of the county's total.

#Property lossCityTypeSeverity
1 $400,000 McLeansboro Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire Major
2 $80,000 McLeansboro Building fires Significant
3 $40,000 McLeansboroTownshi Building fires Significant
4 $30,000 McLeansboro Building fires Significant
5 $25,000 McLeansboro Passenger vehicle fire Significant
6 $20,000 Knight PrairieTown Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire Significant
7 $15,000 mcleansboro Fires in structures other than in a building Significant
8 $15,000 McLeansboro Building fires Significant
9 $15,000 McLeansboro Building fires Significant
10 $15,000 McLeansboro Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire Significant
06 How Hamilton County compares

Hamilton County vs IL vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

20.99
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Hamilton County
20.99
IL avg
10.42
US avg
7.15
6.82
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Hamilton County
6.82
IL avg
1.56
US avg
0.82
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
Hamilton County
0
IL avg
9.9
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in Hamilton County

12 cities mapped to FIPS 17065.

08 First responders

Busiest fire departments in Hamilton County

2 departments report from this county.

MCLEANSBORO FD
McLeansboro
FDID HA133 58 incidents 2 paid
DAHLGREN FD
—
FDID HA123 7 incidents 17 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.