This week, Chicago Police arrested Mario Munoz, 34, and charged the Chicago man with one felony count of arson for intentionally setting fire to Halloween decorations on the porch of a house in the 2200 block of West Roscoe Street in the early morning hours of Oct. 11. 

It was one of eight incidents listed in a community alert issued by the police last week, notifying North Side residents of a string of arson events involving street-corner garbage cans and Halloween displays, including decorations on the front porches of three homes. (Munoz has not been charged with any crimes in connection to the seven other incidents.)

The arrest might provide some relief to Chicagoans who may have been alarmed by the news of someone setting fire to Halloween decorations. And while only two of the incidents have been explicitly classified as arsons in city data, the attention paid to these fires is shining a spotlight on a serious crime.

WBEZ examined reported arsons, dating back to 2001, captured in crime data on the city’s online data portal and found that arson fires occur more frequently than some might realize — and the consequences have been severe, even deadly.

Hundreds of arsons are reported each year in Chicago, according to WBEZ’s analysis. This year through mid-October, nearly 400 reports of arson or attempted arson have been logged, with the largest numbers occurring in communities on the city’s South and West sides. The Austin community area has led the city in the number of arsons or attempted arsons reported each year since 2015, the analysis shows.

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Since 2020, several communities have witnessed outbreaks of six or more reported arsons or attempted arsons within a single month. It’s happened in Austin six times since 2020. During that span, similar sprees also occurred once each in West Englewood, Roseland and the Loop, the data show. Six of the eight incidents flagged by police in its recent alert occurred in the same community area, Lincoln Square.

But many arsons are far more serious than the Halloween display fires that have gotten news coverage this month.

Arsons can claim lives and destroy property.

While Chicago crime data doesn’t include the full street address where arsons are reported — just a partial address number and street name — WBEZ found demolition permits for more than 40 fire-damaged buildings located in the same city blocks where arsons had been previously reported. For those properties, city demolition permit data indicated the buildings were being demolished due to fire damage, suggestive of the extent of the damage potentially caused by arson.

When comparing the dates, times and locations of arson reports in Chicago crime data with Cook County medical examiner data, WBEZ found nearly two dozen people killed in arson fires in the city since 2015. Almost all those deaths were caused by thermal injuries, smoke inhalation, carbon monoxide poisoning or falls suffered during attempts to escape the fires, according to the medical examiner data.

Among those tragedies — in two separate 2016 incidents — were the homicides of four South Side residents, including three children, and the killings of three Back of the Yards residents.

In 2023, most arsons occurred at apartments, homes, businesses or public buildings, the data show. And they were typically reported at night or during the early morning hours — between 6 p.m. and 6 a.m.

However, in the cases of arson that have led to deaths since 2015, a majority occurred between the hours of midnight and 6 a.m., when the victims were likely asleep.

Alden Loury is the data projects editor for WBEZ. Follow him at @AldenLoury.