Arson in Chicago — Crime Statistics 2026
734 indexed reports · 0.2% of Chicago incidents · 0 arrests in recent sample.
Chicago Police Department records in this index include 665 incidents coded as Arson among 410,083 Chicago reports. Arson is CPD's IUCR primary type for fire-related criminal reports as labeled on the public incident feed. The 665 figure counts police reports, not Chicago Fire Department run volume, not dollar loss, and not convictions. LocalCrimeVault does not reclassify CPD charges.
Key figures
- 665 Chicago incidents are coded Arson in an index of 410,083 city reports.
- CPD arson rows are not the same series as fire-department run totals.
- The count is police reports, not loss dollars or convictions.
- LocalCrimeVault does not reclassify CPD charges.
Police arson rows versus fire runs
A CFD run can exist without an IUCR arson incident, and an arson report can exist after investigators classify a fire. The two systems are not the same 665. This page quotes CPD incident rows with primary type Arson in the LocalCrimeVault harvest. It does not include a fire-department total because that number is not in the packet facts.
Vehicle fires, building fires, and other descriptions may appear on individual rows. This narrative does not invent those subtotals. Use IUCR codes and descriptions on the table. Attempted versus completed language, when CPD wrote it, stays on the row.
Attempted versus completed language, when CPD wrote it, stays on the 665 rows among 410,083 city incidents. This page does not publish an attempt subtotal. Filter IUCR codes on the overlay. LocalCrimeVault does not reclassify arson as criminal damage.
Cite 665 among 410,083 Chicago incidents. Fire-department run totals are not in the packet facts and are not added to 665. Criminal damage remains a separate hub. Filter IUCR codes on the overlay for vehicle versus building language if CPD wrote it.
Share of the Chicago extract
Among 410,083 indexed city incidents, 665 arson rows are a small share. Arson is the fire-specific IUCR label. Criminal damage is a separate property type. Do not add 665 to criminal damage unless you disclose a custom mix.
Maps use block-level geography and official community area names. A pin is not proof a named building owner set a fire. It is where CPD recorded the report.
A vehicle-fire description is still an incident row, not a CFD run count. Do not add fire-department statistics to 665. The packet facts do not include a CFD total.
Origin-and-cause work can lag. The public row may still say Arson. Quote the harvest. Official community area names are the 77 areas. A pin is not an accusation against an owner. An arrest flag is not a conviction. LocalCrimeVault does not reclassify charges.
Full neighborhood guide: Arson reports in Chicago →
Questions
- How many arson reports are in the Chicago CPD index?
- This extract lists 665 Chicago incidents with IUCR primary type Arson, in a city file of 410,083 reports. The source is Chicago Police Department open data. The figure counts police reports, not fire-department runs, dollar losses, or convictions. LocalCrimeVault does not reclassify CPD charges. Arson is 665 rows among 410,083 indexed Chicago incidents.
- Is arson the same as criminal damage?
- No. Arson is a fire-related IUCR primary type. Criminal damage is a separate, much larger property-damage type on the same feed. This page covers only the 665 arson rows. Do not add the types without saying so. Read codes on the table if a description mentions fire.
- Does 665 match Chicago Fire Department data?
- Not necessarily. Fire runs and police arson incidents are different systems. This page quotes 665 CPD rows among 410,083 indexed Chicago reports. It does not include a CFD total because that number is not in the packet facts. Cite the system you mean. The 665 figure is CPD rows among 410,083 city reports, not a CFD run total.
- Does an arson row mean a conviction?
- No. Public incident rows are reports. Origin-and-cause findings and court cases live in other files. Quote 665 as CPD report volume. Block-level maps are not identifications of building occupants. Quote 665 as CPD report volume among 410,083 city incidents, not as convictions.
Offense types are CPD IUCR primary categories on the public incident feed. LocalCrimeVault does not reclassify charges.
Compare this offense across cities
What is arson in Chicago?
Arson is knowingly damaging a building or property by fire or explosive without the owner’s consent, or with intent to defraud an insurer. Under Illinois law (720 ILCS 5/20-1) arson is a Class 2 felony; residential arson and aggravated arson — where the offender knows people are present or injuries result — are Class X felonies.
Chicago PD descriptions split arson by means ("by fire," "by explosive") and flag attempted and aggravated cases. Vehicle fires and garbage fires with criminal intent appear here, while accidental fires investigated by CFD do not enter the crime data.
LocalCrimeVault has 734 arson reports indexed in Chicago — 0.2% of all tracked incidents. The most recent full month on record (August 2026) logged 5 reports, down from 34 in July 2026.
Latest reports
Other offense types in Chicago
Top categories citywide: Theft (104,336), Battery (82,131), Criminal Damage (50,256).
How common is arson in Chicago?
Arson accounts for 734 indexed police reports in Chicago (0.2% of tracked offenses). Data comes from City of Chicago Open Data — Crimes.
- How many arson incidents are in Chicago?
- LocalCrimeVault has 734 indexed arson reports in Chicago, sourced from City of Chicago Open Data — Crimes.
- What share of arson reports lead to arrest?
- In our most recent sample of 1 arson records, 0 (0.0%) include an arrest flag in the source data.
- How often is arson data updated?
- Chicago crime records sync nightly from the open-data portal. New reports appear on type and incident pages after the sync and deploy pipeline completes.