ZIP 61081 recorded 237 fire and hazmat incidents in 2025, 1,236 across 2021–2025. Primary county: Lee County, IL.
1,236 incidents from 2021 through 2025 inside this ZIP.
| Year | Incidents | |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 211 | |
| 2022 | 250 | |
| 2023 | 253 | |
| 2024 | 285 | |
| 2025 | 237 |
Jun peaks. Aug dips. Aggregated across all 5 years inside this ZIP.
Top 5 NFIRS incident types for ZIP 61081 across 2021–2025.
| # | Incident type | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Building fires | 293 | 23.7% | |
| 2 | Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) | 210 | 17.0% | |
| 3 | Power line down | 93 | 7.5% | |
| 4 | Arcing, shorted electrical equipment | 79 | 6.4% | |
| 5 | Carbon monoxide incident | 69 | 5.6% |
For the 56 building fires reported here in 2025, here's how investigators classified ignition cause.
NFIRS Area of Origin for ZIP 61081 fires across 2021–2025.
| # | Area of origin | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 57 | 25.6% | |
| 2 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 38 | 17.0% | |
| 3 | Cooking area, kitchen | 19 | 8.5% | |
| 4 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 18 | 8.1% | |
| 5 | Outside area, other | 8 | 3.6% | |
| 6 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 7 | 3.1% | |
| 7 | Vehicle area, other | 6 | 2.7% | |
| 8 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 6 | 2.7% | |
| 9 | All other areas | 64 | 28.7% |
NFIRS HEAT_SOURC code — the physical thing that started the fire.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 120 | 53.8% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 20 | 9.0% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 19 | 8.5% | |
| 4 | Hot ember or ash | 18 | 8.1% | |
| 5 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 7 | 3.1% | |
| 6 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 5 | 2.2% | |
| 7 | Cigarette | 5 | 2.2% | |
| 8 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 5 | 2.2% | |
| 9 | All other sources | 24 | 10.8% |
Largest single-incident losses in ZIP 61081 across 2021–2025. These 8 fires alone account for 208% of the ZIP's 2025 reported total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Year | Severity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $300,000 | Building fires | 2023 | Major |
| 2 | $250,000 | Building fires | 2022 | Major |
| 3 | $150,000 | Building fires | 2022 | Significant |
| 4 | $126,000 | Building fires | 2025 | Significant |
| 5 | $106,000 | Building fires | 2023 | Significant |
| 6 | $100,000 | Building fires | 2022 | Significant |
| 7 | $100,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | 2024 | Significant |
| 8 | $100,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | 2024 | Significant |
Some ZIPs span multiple cities. Ranked by 5-yr NFIRS incidents inside ZIP 61081.
| # | City | 5-yr incidents | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sterling | 1,199 | |
| 2 | Rock Falls | 12 | |
| 3 | Polo | 4 | |
| 4 | Como | 1 | |
| 5 | Lanark | 1 |
Some ZIPs span multiple counties. The primary above is the largest by population weight; secondary counties are below.
| County | State | Weight | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Whiteside County | IL | 1.00 | FIPS 17195 |
The figures above are historical. For today's air quality, fire-weather warnings, and active fires, go to the official sources.
NFIRS reports each fire incident with a 5-digit address ZIP. We aggregate those rows directly to produce ZIP-level totals — 1,236 incidents in this ZIP across 2021–2025. Building-fire breakdowns (Area of Origin, Heat Source, ignition cause) only count fires investigators classified beyond the basic incident report. Because NFIRS reporting is voluntary, totals are a strong indicator rather than a complete census.