In 2025, fire departments serving Ashland responded to 96 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $200K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 60% of all calls.
Jun peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
463 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $1.1M cumulative property loss. 4 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 94 | — | |
| 2022 | 97 | +3.2% | |
| 2023 | 83 | -14.4% | |
| 2024 | 93 | +12.0% | |
| 2025 | 96 | +3.2% |
For the 15 building fires Ashland departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 119 building fires investigators classified across 2021–2025. The room or location where ignition occurred — kitchens, bedrooms, exterior, vehicle areas — tells you where to focus prevention.
| # | Area of origin | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 17 | 14.3% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 15 | 12.6% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 12 | 10.1% | |
| 4 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 11 | 9.2% | |
| 5 | Cooking area, kitchen | 10 | 8.4% | |
| 6 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 5 | 4.2% | |
| 7 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 5 | 4.2% | |
| 8 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 4 | 3.4% | |
| 9 | Other | 3 | 2.5% | |
| 10 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 3 | 2.5% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 34 | 28.6% |
NFIRS Heat Source (HEAT_SOURC) — the physical thing that started it. Spark or ember from operating equipment, an open flame, smoking materials, or hot embers from a fireplace are the leading culprits nationwide. Here's the Ashland mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 53 | 44.5% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 17 | 14.3% | |
| 3 | Heat source: other | 8 | 6.7% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 6 | 5.0% | |
| 5 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 5 | 4.2% | |
| 6 | Hot ember or ash | 5 | 4.2% | |
| 7 | Cigarette | 5 | 4.2% | |
| 8 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 4 | 3.4% | |
| 9 | Fireworks | 3 | 2.5% | |
| 10 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 2 | 1.7% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 11 | 9.2% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Ashland departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 99% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $200,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $25,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $15,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $10,000 | Outside equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $5,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $5,000 | Fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $5,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Ashland sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
13 fire-related casualties recorded in NFIRS Module 11 across the 2021–2025 window. Age, gender, and severity are coarse-binned — no individual identification possible.
| Age | Count | |
|---|---|---|
| 0-9 | 0 | |
| 10-19 | 2 | |
| 20-29 | 1 | |
| 30-39 | 0 | |
| 40-49 | 0 | |
| 50-59 | 0 | |
| 60-69 | 0 | |
| 70-79 | 0 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 10,182 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | Equipment and vehicle use | 7,499 | 43.1 mi | |
| 2007 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 1,167 | 27.2 mi | |
| 1999 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 258 | 18.8 mi | |
| 2000 | Debris and open burning | 170 | 45.1 mi | |
| 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 120 | 25.1 mi | |
| 1992 | Natural | 100 | 42.3 mi | |
| 2017 | Arson/incendiarism | 79 | 16.1 mi | |
| 1992 | Smoking | 70 | 19.7 mi | |
| 1998 | Recreation and ceremony | 63 | 9.0 mi | |
| 2009 | Debris and open burning | 61 | 42.4 mi | |
| 2007 | Arson/incendiarism | 53 | 47.6 mi | |
| 2009 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 50 | 28.3 mi |
Top 2 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
Six Wisconsin cities with population within ±25% of Ashland. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Ashland.
A 30-minute weekend can cut your home's exposure substantially. These four checklists are a good starting point.
Numbers reflect incidents reported by participating fire departments to the National Fire Incident Reporting System (NFIRS) Public Data Release for calendar year 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. Per-capita comparisons use 2023 ACS population estimates. Wildland fire data complements NFIRS with NIFC and USFS perimeters. Active-fire counts come from a dated NIFC snapshot, not a live feed.