In 2025, fire departments serving Bancroft responded to 12 fire and hazmat incidents . Here's the full picture.
Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 91% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Apr dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
88 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 11 | — | |
| 2022 | 24 | +118.2% | |
| 2023 | 12 | -50.0% | |
| 2024 | 29 | +141.7% | |
| 2025 | 12 | -58.6% |
For the 0 building fires Bancroft departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 23 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 | 19 | 82.6% | |
| 2 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 2 | 8.7% | |
| 3 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 1 | 4.3% | |
| 4 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 1 | 4.3% |
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 Bancroft mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 17 | 73.9% | |
| 2 | Heat source: other | 4 | 17.4% | |
| 3 | Heat, spark from friction | 1 | 4.3% | |
| 4 | Flying brand, ember, spark | 1 | 4.3% |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Bancroft sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 9,411 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | Debris and open burning | 3,410 | 20.9 mi | |
| 2003 | Debris and open burning | 572 | 25.0 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 400 | 46.5 mi | |
| 2019 | Arson/incendiarism | 385 | 37.8 mi | |
| 2003 | Debris and open burning | 384 | 38.0 mi | |
| 2015 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 366 | 43.8 mi | |
| 2015 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 337 | 36.1 mi | |
| 1999 | Debris and open burning | 320 | 21.1 mi | |
| 2020 | Arson/incendiarism | 320 | 37.8 mi | |
| 1997 | Debris and open burning | 300 | 3.9 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 275 | 38.5 mi | |
| 2020 | Equipment and vehicle use | 262 | 34.8 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 Bancroft. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Bancroft.
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.