In 2025, fire departments serving Burlington responded to 150 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $2K 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 63% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Feb dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
1,041 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $1.4M cumulative property loss. 3 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 230 | — | |
| 2022 | 223 | -3.0% | |
| 2023 | 292 | +30.9% | |
| 2024 | 146 | -50.0% | |
| 2025 | 150 | +2.7% |
For the 54 building fires Burlington departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 187 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 | Outside area, other | 32 | 17.1% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 31 | 16.6% | |
| 3 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 20 | 10.7% | |
| 4 | Other | 10 | 5.3% | |
| 5 | Wildland, woods | 9 | 4.8% | |
| 6 | Cooking area, kitchen | 7 | 3.7% | |
| 7 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 7 | 3.7% | |
| 8 | Vehicle area, other | 6 | 3.2% | |
| 9 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 5 | 2.7% | |
| 10 | Attic: vacant, crawl space above top story, cupola | 5 | 2.7% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 55 | 29.4% |
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 Burlington mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 79 | 42.2% | |
| 2 | Heat source: other | 16 | 8.6% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 14 | 7.5% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 14 | 7.5% | |
| 5 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 8 | 4.3% | |
| 6 | Hot ember or ash | 7 | 3.7% | |
| 7 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 7 | 3.7% | |
| 8 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 4 | 2.1% | |
| 9 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 4 | 2.1% | |
| 10 | Cigarette | 4 | 2.1% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 30 | 16.0% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Burlington departments in 2025. These 1 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $1,500 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Burlington sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
5 fire-related casualties recorded in NFIRS Module 11 across the 2021–2025 window. Age, gender, and severity are coarse-binned — no individual identification possible.
| Age | Count | |
|---|---|---|
| 0-9 | 0 | |
| 10-19 | 0 | |
| 20-29 | 4 | |
| 30-39 | 0 | |
| 40-49 | 1 | |
| 50-59 | 0 | |
| 60-69 | 0 | |
| 70-79 | 0 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 4,615 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,100 | 48.9 mi | |
| 2015 | Misuse of fire by a minor | 750 | 30.5 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 450 | 29.4 mi | |
| 2003 | Arson/incendiarism | 290 | 49.4 mi | |
| 2012 | Arson/incendiarism | 254 | 40.3 mi | |
| 2018 | Debris and open burning | 252 | 33.9 mi | |
| 2010 | Natural | 200 | 15.9 mi | |
| 2010 | Natural | 180 | 15.5 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 139 | 48.8 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 100 | 37.7 mi | |
| 2006 | Smoking | 81 | 47.6 mi | |
| 2010 | Equipment and vehicle use | 80 | 5.6 mi |
Top 4 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 Burlington. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Burlington.
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.