In 2025, fire departments serving Winnebago County responded to 2,993 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $350K property loss.
Building fires lead by count. Top five categories make up about 53% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Feb dips.
13,897 incidents from 2021 through 2025.
| Year | Incidents | |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 2,573 | |
| 2022 | 2,214 | |
| 2023 | 3,026 | |
| 2024 | 3,091 | |
| 2025 | 2,993 |
For the 574 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.
Largest single-incident property losses in Winnebago County during 2025. These 10 fires alone account for 28% of the county's total.
| # | Property loss | City | Type | Severity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $350,000 | ROSCOE | Building fires | Major |
| 2 | $300,000 | Rockton | Building fires | Major |
| 3 | $298,950 | Rockton | Building fires | Major |
| 4 | $285,000 | Rockton | Building fires | Major |
| 5 | $260,000 | ROCKFORD | Cultivated grain or crop fire | Major |
| 6 | $250,000 | rockford | Building fires | Major |
| 7 | $250,000 | ROCKFORD | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Major |
| 8 | $150,000 | Roscoe | Building fires | Significant |
| 9 | $150,000 | ROCKFORD | Building fires | Significant |
| 10 | $150,000 | ROCKFORD | Building fires | Significant |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.
12 cities mapped to FIPS 17201.
| City | Population | |
|---|---|---|
| Rockford | 148,173 | View › |
| Loves Park | 22,935 | View › |
| Machesney Park | 22,840 | View › |
| Roscoe | 11,134 | View › |
| Rockton | 8,241 | View › |
| South Beloit | 7,943 | View › |
| Winnebago | 3,003 | View › |
| Cherry Valley | 2,951 | View › |
| Pecatonica | 2,141 | View › |
| Lake Summerset | 2,115 | View › |
| Durand | 1,465 | View › |
| Westlake Village | 1,446 | View › |
15 departments report from this county.
Top 10 fire perimeters by acres burned (state-scoped fallback while we build out per-county polygons).
| # | Name | Year | Agency | Acres |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 |
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.