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2025 County Report

Fires in Tazewell County, IL

In 2025, fire departments serving Tazewell County responded to 1,247 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $1.0M property loss.

108,244 residents FIPS 17179 44 cities · 18 fire depts
Total incidents
1,247
5,768 across 5 years
Building fires
185
173 wildland
Property loss
$9.7M
$5.7M structure · $4.0M contents
Casualties
2 / 3
2 civ deaths · 1 civ inj · 2 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.

1,247
Total Incidents
Building fires 185 14.8%
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) 132 10.6%
Power line down 106 8.5%
Unauthorized burning 106 8.5%
Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire 88 7.1%
All other categories 630 50.5%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in Tazewell County?

Mar peaks. Jan dips.

Jan 62
Feb 70
Mar 185
Apr 87
May 80
Jun 87
Jul 115
Aug 111
Sep 135
Oct 129
Nov 124
Dec 62
03 Five-year trend

Year over year in Tazewell County

5,768 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 1,260
2022 961
2023 1,094
2024 1,206
2025 1,247
04 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 185 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional
54%
150
Cause undetermined
8%
22
Intentional / arson
16%
44
Equipment / heat source failure
12%
33
Under investigation
8%
21
Act of nature (lightning)
2%
8
05 The biggest fires

10 fires · $3.6M in losses

Largest single-incident property losses in Tazewell County during 2025. These 10 fires alone account for 65% of the county's total.

#Property lossCityTypeSeverity
1 $1,000,000 East Peoria Building fires Major
2 $500,000 Morton Fires in structures other than in a building Major
3 $500,000 East Peoria Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire Major
4 $500,000 East Peoria Building fires Major
5 $300,000 East Peoria Building fires Major
6 $200,000 ARMINGTON Building fires Significant
7 $200,000 Washington Building fires Significant
8 $150,000 East Peoria Building fires Significant
9 $150,000 East Peoria Building fires Significant
10 $150,000 Pekin Building fires Significant
06 How Tazewell County compares

Tazewell County vs IL vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

11.52
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Tazewell County
11.52
IL avg
10.42
US avg
7.15
1.71
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Tazewell County
1.71
IL avg
1.56
US avg
0.82
18.5
Civilian fire deaths per million
Tazewell County
18.5
IL avg
9.9
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in Tazewell County

12 cities mapped to FIPS 17179.

08 First responders

Busiest fire departments in Tazewell County

18 departments report from this county.

PEKIN FD
Pekin
FDID TA271 413 incidents 52 paid
EAST PEORIA FD
East Peoria
FDID TA182 189 incidents 40 paid
Washington VFD
—
FDID TA313 99 incidents 45 vol
MORTON FD
—
FDID TA243 92 incidents
Mackinaw FD
—
FDID TA223 55 incidents 26 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.