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2025 County Report

Fires in Perry County, IL

In 2025, fire departments serving Perry County responded to 181 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $100K property loss.

12,491 residents FIPS 17145 17 cities · 6 fire depts
Total incidents
181
1,032 across 5 years
Building fires
34
26 wildland
Property loss
$541K
$449K structure · $92K 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 50% of all calls.

181
Total Incidents
Building fires 34 18.8%
Power line down 16 8.8%
Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire 15 8.3%
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) 14 7.7%
Electrical wiring/equipment problem, other 11 6.1%
All other categories 91 50.3%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in Perry County?

Mar peaks. Feb dips.

Jan 10
Feb 7
Mar 27
Apr 22
May 8
Jun 11
Jul 13
Aug 13
Sep 20
Oct 12
Nov 15
Dec 23
03 Five-year trend

Year over year in Perry County

1,032 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 202
2022 193
2023 226
2024 230
2025 181
04 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 34 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional
56%
35
Cause undetermined
29%
18
Intentional / arson
3%
2
Equipment / heat source failure
2%
1
Under investigation
10%
6
Act of nature (lightning)
0%
1
05 The biggest fires

10 fires · $395K in losses

Largest single-incident property losses in Perry County during 2025. These 10 fires alone account for 88% of the county's total.

#Property lossCityTypeSeverity
1 $100,000 Du Quoin Building fires Significant
2 $75,000 DuQuoin Building fires Significant
3 $40,000 Cutler Building fires Significant
4 $40,000 Cutler Building fires Significant
5 $40,000 Cutler Fire in motor home, camper, recreational vehicle Significant
6 $30,000 Du Quoin Fires in structures other than in a building Significant
7 $20,000 Du Quoin Building fires Significant
8 $20,000 DuQuoin Passenger vehicle fire Significant
9 $20,000 Du Quoin Building fires Significant
10 $10,000 Tamaroa Building fires Significant
06 How Perry County compares

Perry County vs IL vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

14.49
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Perry County
14.49
IL avg
10.42
US avg
7.15
2.72
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Perry County
2.72
IL avg
1.56
US avg
0.82
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
Perry County
0
IL avg
9.9
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in Perry County

12 cities mapped to FIPS 17145.

08 First responders

Busiest fire departments in Perry County

6 departments report from this county.

DUQUOIN FD
Du Quoin
FDID PB122 98 incidents 7 paid
PINCKNEYVILLE RURAL FPD
—
FDID PB162 32 incidents 1 paid
Pinckneyville Fire Department
—
FDID PB132 21 incidents 1 paid
TAMAROA FPD
—
FDID PB144 17 incidents 29 vol
Cutler Comm FPD
Cutler
FDID PB114 8 incidents 18 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.