In 2025, fire departments serving Barron responded to 37 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $50K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Gasoline or other flammable liquid spill lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 65% of all calls.
Sep peaks. May dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
124 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $773K cumulative property loss. 3 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 27 | — | |
| 2022 | 23 | -14.8% | |
| 2023 | 23 | +0.0% | |
| 2024* | 14 | — | |
| 2025 | 37 | — |
* Well below Barron'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 Barron departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 40 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 | 12 | 30.0% | |
| 2 | Other | 4 | 10.0% | |
| 3 | Cooking area, kitchen | 3 | 7.5% | |
| 4 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 3 | 7.5% | |
| 5 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 3 | 7.5% | |
| 6 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 2 | 5.0% | |
| 7 | Outside area, other | 2 | 5.0% | |
| 8 | Function area, other | 1 | 2.5% | |
| 9 | Processing/manufacturing area, workroom | 1 | 2.5% | |
| 10 | Storage area, other | 1 | 2.5% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 8 | 20.0% |
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 Barron mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 18 | 45.0% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 4 | 10.0% | |
| 3 | Heat source: other | 3 | 7.5% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 3 | 7.5% | |
| 5 | Arcing | 2 | 5.0% | |
| 6 | Cigarette | 2 | 5.0% | |
| 7 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 1 | 2.5% | |
| 8 | Heat, spark from friction | 1 | 2.5% | |
| 9 | Hot ember or ash | 1 | 2.5% | |
| 10 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 1 | 2.5% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 4 | 10.0% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Barron departments in 2025. These 6 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $45,000 | Fires in structures other than in a building | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $500 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $500 | Building or structure weakened or collapsed | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $100 | Electrical wiring/equipment problem, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $40 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Barron sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 3,086 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 656 | 49.4 mi | |
| 2009 | Fireworks | 390 | 37.4 mi | |
| 2005 | Debris and open burning | 260 | 45.3 mi | |
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 170 | 48.9 mi | |
| 2010 | Equipment and vehicle use | 153 | 45.9 mi | |
| 2003 | Debris and open burning | 148 | 27.8 mi | |
| 1998 | Arson/incendiarism | 140 | 15.0 mi | |
| 2012 | Debris and open burning | 123 | 31.4 mi | |
| 1998 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 120 | 39.9 mi | |
| 2010 | Debris and open burning | 113 | 49.9 mi | |
| 2006 | Misuse of fire by a minor | 75 | 40.3 mi | |
| 1993 | Arson/incendiarism | 75 | 37.7 mi |
Top 5 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 Barron. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Barron.
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.