In 2025, fire departments serving Belmont responded to 29 fire and hazmat incidents . Here's the full picture.
Vehicle accident, general cleanup lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 76% of all calls.
Feb peaks. Apr dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
85 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $100K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 7 | — | |
| 2022 | 14 | — | |
| 2023 | 14 | +0.0% | |
| 2024 | 21 | +50.0% | |
| 2025 | 29 | +38.1% |
* Well below Belmont'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 3 building fires Belmont departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 21 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 | Other | 5 | 23.8% | |
| 2 | Equipment or service area, other | 3 | 14.3% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 3 | 14.3% | |
| 4 | Outside area, other | 3 | 14.3% | |
| 5 | Storage area, other | 1 | 4.8% | |
| 6 | Ceiling & floor assembly, crawl space b/t stories | 1 | 4.8% | |
| 7 | Vehicle area, other | 1 | 4.8% | |
| 8 | Cargo/trunk area - all vehicles | 1 | 4.8% | |
| 9 | Exterior, exposed surface | 1 | 4.8% | |
| 10 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 1 | 4.8% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 1 | 4.8% |
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 Belmont mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 6 | 28.6% | |
| 2 | Heat, spark from friction | 3 | 14.3% | |
| 3 | Heat source: other | 2 | 9.5% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 2 | 9.5% | |
| 5 | Arcing | 2 | 9.5% | |
| 6 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 1 | 4.8% | |
| 7 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 1 | 4.8% | |
| 8 | Hot ember or ash | 1 | 4.8% | |
| 9 | Chemical, natural heat source, other | 1 | 4.8% | |
| 10 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 1 | 4.8% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 1 | 4.8% |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Belmont sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 4,164 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,400 | 31.8 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 617 | 34.8 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 200 | 33.4 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 189 | 38.0 mi | |
| 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 165 | 34.6 mi | |
| 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 130 | 18.8 mi | |
| 2018 | Debris and open burning | 125 | 16.8 mi | |
| 2009 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 100 | 14.3 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 100 | 49.1 mi | |
| 2004 | Recreation and ceremony | 100 | 35.7 mi | |
| 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 100 | 29.8 mi | |
| 2004 | Debris and open burning | 88 | 43.9 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 Belmont. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Belmont.
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.