Home› Counties› IL› Marion County
2025 County Report

Fires in Marion County, IL

In 2025, fire departments serving Marion County responded to 672 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $250K property loss.

25,816 residents FIPS 17121 22 cities · 9 fire depts
Total incidents
672
3,016 across 5 years
Building fires
159
97 wildland
Property loss
$2.5M
$1.9M structure · $596K 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 70% of all calls.

672
Total Incidents
Building fires 159 23.7%
Unauthorized burning 125 18.6%
Power line down 73 10.9%
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) 64 9.5%
Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire 52 7.7%
All other categories 199 29.6%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in Marion County?

Mar peaks. Jan dips.

Jan 28
Feb 45
Mar 101
Apr 69
May 35
Jun 40
Jul 56
Aug 53
Sep 62
Oct 85
Nov 61
Dec 37
03 Five-year trend

Year over year in Marion County

3,016 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 436
2022 533
2023 683
2024 692
2025 672
04 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 159 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional
62%
95
Cause undetermined
15%
23
Intentional / arson
5%
8
Equipment / heat source failure
6%
10
Under investigation
9%
14
Act of nature (lightning)
3%
2
05 The biggest fires

10 fires · $1.1M in losses

Largest single-incident property losses in Marion County during 2025. These 10 fires alone account for 56% of the county's total.

#Property lossCityTypeSeverity
1 $250,000 Salem Building fires Major
2 $200,000 Walnut hill Building fires Significant
3 $150,000 Odin Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire Significant
4 $100,000 CENTRALIA Building fires Significant
5 $100,000 WALNUT HILL Building fires Significant
6 $65,000 Salem Passenger vehicle fire Significant
7 $60,000 CENTRALIA Building fires Significant
8 $55,000 Centralia Water vehicle fire Significant
9 $50,000 CENTRALIA Building fires Significant
10 $50,000 WALNUT HILL Building fires Significant
06 How Marion County compares

Marion County vs IL vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

26.03
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Marion County
26.03
IL avg
10.42
US avg
7.15
6.16
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Marion County
6.16
IL avg
1.56
US avg
0.82
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
Marion County
0
IL avg
9.9
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in Marion County

12 cities mapped to FIPS 17121.

08 First responders

Busiest fire departments in Marion County

9 departments report from this county.

Centralia City FD
—
FDID MD111 289 incidents 21 paid
SALEM FPD
Salem
FDID MD182 136 incidents 4 paid
ODIN FPD
ODIN
FDID MD164 91 incidents 25 vol
Centralia Rural FPD
—
FDID MD123 89 incidents 22 vol
Kell Comm FPD
—
FDID MD144 73 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.