In 2025, fire departments serving Balsam Lake responded to 21 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $100K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Building fires lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 67% of all calls.
May peaks. Jan dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
116 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $1.2M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 13 | — | |
| 2022 | 28 | — | |
| 2023 | 17 | -39.3% | |
| 2024 | 37 | +117.6% | |
| 2025 | 21 | -43.2% |
* Well below Balsam Lake'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 5 building fires Balsam Lake departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 44 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 | 11 | 25.0% | |
| 2 | Structural area, other | 4 | 9.1% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 4 | 9.1% | |
| 4 | Outside area, other | 4 | 9.1% | |
| 5 | Vehicle area, other | 3 | 6.8% | |
| 6 | Other | 2 | 4.5% | |
| 7 | Cooking area, kitchen | 2 | 4.5% | |
| 8 | Wildland, woods | 2 | 4.5% | |
| 9 | Interior stairway or ramp | 1 | 2.3% | |
| 10 | Entrance way, lobby | 1 | 2.3% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 10 | 22.7% |
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 Balsam Lake mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 23 | 52.3% | |
| 2 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 3 | 6.8% | |
| 3 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 3 | 6.8% | |
| 4 | Hot ember or ash | 3 | 6.8% | |
| 5 | Heat source: other | 2 | 4.5% | |
| 6 | Match | 2 | 4.5% | |
| 7 | Arcing | 1 | 2.3% | |
| 8 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 1 | 2.3% | |
| 9 | Heat, spark from friction | 1 | 2.3% | |
| 10 | Explosive, fireworks, other | 1 | 2.3% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 4 | 9.1% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Balsam Lake departments in 2025. These 3 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $20,000 | Fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $10,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Balsam Lake sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 18,896 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 | 34.4 mi | |
| 2009 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,550 | 34.2 mi | |
| 2000 | Debris and open burning | 1,350 | 37.5 mi | |
| 2004 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 835 | 40.7 mi | |
| 2013 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 656 | 29.0 mi | |
| 2000 | Smoking | 420 | 34.9 mi | |
| 2004 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 358 | 43.5 mi | |
| 2010 | Equipment and vehicle use | 336 | 41.7 mi | |
| 2004 | Arson/incendiarism | 335 | 48.7 mi | |
| 1999 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 306 | 42.9 mi | |
| 2004 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 298 | 44.7 mi | |
| 2000 | Debris and open burning | 275 | 48.8 mi |
Top 1 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
| # | ZIP | 5-yr incidents | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 54810 | 116 |
Six Wisconsin cities with population within ±25% of Balsam Lake. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Balsam Lake.
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.