Home› Counties› IL› Massac County
2025 County Report

Fires in Massac County, IL

In 2025, fire departments serving Massac County responded to 168 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $26K property loss.

7,048 residents FIPS 17127 13 cities · 4 fire depts
Total incidents
168
815 across 5 years
Building fires
38
28 wildland
Property loss
$119K
$90K structure · $29K contents
Casualties
1 / 2
1 civ deaths · 1 civ inj · 1 FF inj
01 The mix

What kinds of fires happen here?

Building fires lead by count. Top five categories make up about 51% of all calls.

168
Total Incidents
Building fires 38 22.6%
Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire 17 10.1%
Power line down 11 6.5%
Trash or rubbish fire, contained 10 6.0%
Passenger vehicle fire 10 6.0%
All other categories 82 48.8%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in Massac County?

Mar peaks. Oct dips.

Jan 17
Feb 21
Mar 29
Apr 9
May 6
Jun 7
Jul 15
Aug 20
Sep 14
Oct 4
Nov 11
Dec 15
03 Five-year trend

Year over year in Massac County

815 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 146
2022 185
2023 147
2024 169
2025 168
04 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 38 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional
33%
16
Cause undetermined
23%
11
Intentional / arson
10%
5
Equipment / heat source failure
23%
11
Under investigation
6%
3
Act of nature (lightning)
5%
1
05 The biggest fires

10 fires · $90K in losses

Largest single-incident property losses in Massac County during 2025. These 10 fires alone account for 100% of the county's total.

#Property lossCityTypeSeverity
1 $26,000 Metropolis Building fires Significant
2 $20,000 Metropolis Building fires Significant
3 $10,000 Metropolis Passenger vehicle fire Significant
4 $10,000 Metropolis Electrical wiring/equipment problem, other Significant
5 $6,000 Metropolis Fire in motor home, camper, recreational vehicle Significant
6 $6,000 Metropolis Building fires Significant
7 $5,000 Metropolis Fuel burner/boiler malfunction, fire confined Significant
8 $3,000 Metropolis Building fires Significant
9 $2,500 Metropolis Passenger vehicle fire Significant
10 $1,000 Metropolis Building fires Significant
06 How Massac County compares

Massac County vs IL vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

23.84
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Massac County
23.84
IL avg
10.42
US avg
7.15
5.39
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Massac County
5.39
IL avg
1.56
US avg
0.82
141.9
Civilian fire deaths per million
Massac County
141.9
IL avg
9.9
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in Massac County

12 cities mapped to FIPS 17127.

08 First responders

Busiest fire departments in Massac County

4 departments report from this county.

METROPOLIS FD
—
FDID MG142 69 incidents 9 paid
MASSAC COUNTY FD
—
FDID MG133 59 incidents
JOPPA VFD
Joppa
FDID MG128 34 incidents 15 vol
BROOKPORT FD
—
FDID MG114 10 incidents 11 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.