Home› Counties› IL› Menard County
2025 County Report

Fires in Menard County, IL

In 2025, fire departments serving Menard County responded to 101 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $150K property loss.

7,362 residents FIPS 17129 16 cities · 7 fire depts
Total incidents
101
441 across 5 years
Building fires
24
13 wildland
Property loss
$325K
$263K structure · $62K contents
Casualties
0 / 0
0 civ deaths · 0 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 57% of all calls.

101
Total Incidents
Building fires 24 23.8%
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) 11 10.9%
Power line down 9 8.9%
Outside rubbish fire, other 8 7.9%
Cooking fire, confined to container 6 5.9%
All other categories 43 42.6%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in Menard County?

Mar peaks. May dips.

Jan 9
Feb 10
Mar 19
Apr 4
May 3
Jun 6
Jul 4
Aug 8
Sep 17
Oct 6
Nov 5
Dec 10
03 Five-year trend

Year over year in Menard County

441 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 72
2022 99
2023 66
2024 103
2025 101
04 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 24 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional
67%
22
Cause undetermined
3%
1
Intentional / arson
3%
1
Equipment / heat source failure
12%
4
Under investigation
15%
5
Act of nature (lightning)
0%
0
05 The biggest fires

6 fires · $263K in losses

Largest single-incident property losses in Menard County during 2025. These 6 fires alone account for 100% of the county's total.

#Property lossCityTypeSeverity
1 $150,000 Petersburg Building fires Significant
2 $100,000 Petersburg Building fires Significant
3 $7,000 Petersburg Building fires Significant
4 $5,000 Petersburg Electrical wiring/equipment problem, other Significant
5 $600 Greenview Fire, other Significant
6 $300 Greenview Fire, other Significant
06 How Menard County compares

Menard County vs IL vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

13.72
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Menard County
13.72
IL avg
10.42
US avg
7.15
3.26
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Menard County
3.26
IL avg
1.56
US avg
0.82
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
Menard County
0
IL avg
9.9
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in Menard County

12 cities mapped to FIPS 17129.

08 First responders

Busiest fire departments in Menard County

7 departments report from this county.

ATHENS FPD
—
FDID ML114 33 incidents 21 vol
Petersburg Comm FPD
PETERSBURG
FDID ML173 33 incidents
PETERSBURG FD
Petersburg
FDID ML153 25 incidents
BELLFLOWER FPD
Bellflower
FDID MK133 13 incidents
Greenview Comm FPD
—
FDID ML133 13 incidents
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.