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2025 County Report

Fires in Morgan County, IL

In 2025, fire departments serving Morgan County responded to 444 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $2.0M property loss.

26,381 residents FIPS 17137 28 cities · 9 fire depts
Total incidents
444
2,087 across 5 years
Building fires
53
43 wildland
Property loss
$7.2M
$6.5M structure · $707K contents
Casualties
2 / 0
2 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 49% of all calls.

444
Total Incidents
Building fires 53 11.9%
Power line down 48 10.8%
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) 47 10.6%
Outside rubbish, trash or waste fire 40 9.0%
Unauthorized burning 28 6.3%
All other categories 228 51.4%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in Morgan County?

Mar peaks. Apr dips.

Jan 26
Feb 26
Mar 73
Apr 22
May 32
Jun 39
Jul 37
Aug 42
Sep 43
Oct 49
Nov 31
Dec 24
03 Five-year trend

Year over year in Morgan County

2,087 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 395
2022 387
2023 458
2024 403
2025 444
04 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 53 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional
30%
28
Cause undetermined
31%
29
Intentional / arson
10%
9
Equipment / heat source failure
12%
11
Under investigation
12%
11
Act of nature (lightning)
5%
2
05 The biggest fires

10 fires · $5.1M in losses

Largest single-incident property losses in Morgan County during 2025. These 10 fires alone account for 79% of the county's total.

#Property lossCityTypeSeverity
1 $2,000,000 Alexander Outside rubbish, trash or waste fire Major
2 $1,000,000 Alexander Outside equipment fire Major
3 $900,000 ALEXANDER Outside equipment fire Major
4 $250,000 Chapin Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire Major
5 $250,000 Meredosia Building fires Major
6 $200,000 Alexander Special outside fire, other Significant
7 $180,000 Concord Fires in structures other than in a building Significant
8 $150,000 Franklin Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire Significant
9 $100,000 JACKSONVILLE Building fires Significant
10 $100,000 JACKSONVILLE Passenger vehicle fire Significant
06 How Morgan County compares

Morgan County vs IL vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

16.83
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Morgan County
16.83
IL avg
10.42
US avg
7.15
2.01
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Morgan County
2.01
IL avg
1.56
US avg
0.82
75.8
Civilian fire deaths per million
Morgan County
75.8
IL avg
9.9
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in Morgan County

12 cities mapped to FIPS 17137.

08 First responders

Busiest fire departments in Morgan County

9 departments report from this county.

JACKSONVILLE FD
—
FDID MQ111 273 incidents 25 paid
SOUTH JACKSONVILLE FD
South Jacksonville
FDID MQ193 46 incidents
Woodson Comm FPD
—
FDID MQ214 22 incidents
FRANKLIN FPD
—
FDID MQ154 18 incidents 18 vol
Murrayville VFPD
Murrayville
FDID MQ178 15 incidents 16 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.