Peoria, IL Fire Regulations: Wildfire Zones (2026)

Wildfire hazard zoning is a feature of jurisdictions with chaparral, conifer forests, or grassland-prairie/forest fringe at risk of catastrophic wildland fire — primarily California, parts of the Mountain West, the Pacific Northwest, and the southern Appalachians. Peoria, located in the central Illinois agricultural plain along the Illinois River, lies outside any state or federal WUI designation. Illinois does not adopt the International Wildland-Urban Interface Code as a state baseline, and the Illinois Capital Development Board's commercial building codes do not include WUI overlay provisions. The 2018 International Fire Code (adopted by Peoria under Chapter 5) contains a Chapter 49 (Requirements for Wildland-Urban Interface Fire Areas) that takes effect only in jurisdictions that adopt a WUI map — Peoria has not done so. Prairie wildfires do occur in central Illinois rural areas, but residential structures inside the City of Peoria are not classified as WUI properties. Practical implications: there is no mandatory 30-foot or 100-foot defensible-space perimeter, no Class A roof-covering mandate, no ember-resistant vent requirement, and no special construction standards for new homes related to wildfire. Standard property maintenance rules under Peoria Code Chapter 5, Article VI (2018 IPMC) still apply — particularly the 10-inch grass/weed height cap — and the Peoria Fire Department retains authority under Chapter 11 to order extinguishment of any fire creating a hazardous condition.