In 2025, fire departments serving Baldwin responded to 40 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $150K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Grass fire lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 60% of all calls.
Jul peaks. Aug dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
148 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $3.6M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 10 | — | |
| 2022 | 46 | — | |
| 2023 | 20 | -56.5% | |
| 2024 | 32 | +60.0% | |
| 2025 | 40 | +25.0% |
* Well below Baldwin's usual volume. That almost always means one or more departments didn't submit a full year to NFIRS, not that fires dropped, so no year-over-year change is shown for it.
For the 4 building fires Baldwin departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 47 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 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 17 | 36.2% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 5 | 10.6% | |
| 3 | Wall surface: exterior | 4 | 8.5% | |
| 4 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 3 | 6.4% | |
| 5 | Cooking area, kitchen | 2 | 4.3% | |
| 6 | Equipment or service area, other | 2 | 4.3% | |
| 7 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 2 | 4.3% | |
| 8 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 1 | 2.1% | |
| 9 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 1 | 2.1% | |
| 10 | Office | 1 | 2.1% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 9 | 19.1% |
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 Baldwin mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 20 | 42.6% | |
| 2 | Hot ember or ash | 5 | 10.6% | |
| 3 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 4 | 8.5% | |
| 4 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 3 | 6.4% | |
| 5 | Arcing | 3 | 6.4% | |
| 6 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 2 | 4.3% | |
| 7 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 2 | 4.3% | |
| 8 | Heat, spark from friction | 2 | 4.3% | |
| 9 | Cigarette | 2 | 4.3% | |
| 10 | Cigarette lighter | 1 | 2.1% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 3 | 6.4% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Baldwin departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $150,000 | Fire in motor home, camper, recreational vehicle | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $100,000 | Outside equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $75,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $25,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $5,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $5,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $2,000 | Outside equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $1,500 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Baldwin sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 16,142 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | Debris and open burning | 8,513 | 44.6 mi | |
| 2009 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,550 | 42.9 mi | |
| 2004 | Recreation and ceremony | 1,000 | 42.7 mi | |
| 2000 | Smoking | 420 | 48.9 mi | |
| 2009 | Fireworks | 390 | 30.5 mi | |
| 1999 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 306 | 49.9 mi | |
| 2005 | Debris and open burning | 260 | 13.1 mi | |
| 2004 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 250 | 43.1 mi | |
| 2007 | Recreation and ceremony | 248 | 43.6 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 217 | 43.2 mi | |
| 1995 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 200 | 45.2 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 200 | 40.1 mi |
Top 3 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 Baldwin. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Baldwin.
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.