In 2025, fire departments serving Butler responded to 25 fire and hazmat incidents . Here's the full picture.
Cooking fire, confined to container lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 56% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Apr dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
117 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $1K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 24 | — | |
| 2022 | 21 | -12.5% | |
| 2023 | 21 | +0.0% | |
| 2024 | 26 | +23.8% | |
| 2025 | 25 | -3.8% |
For the 1 building fires Butler departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 19 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 | 5 | 26.3% | |
| 2 | Cooking area, kitchen | 3 | 15.8% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 2 | 10.5% | |
| 4 | Undetermined | 2 | 10.5% | |
| 5 | Other | 1 | 5.3% | |
| 6 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 1 | 5.3% | |
| 7 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 1 | 5.3% | |
| 8 | Storage: supplies or tools; dead storage | 1 | 5.3% | |
| 9 | Equipment or service area, other | 1 | 5.3% | |
| 10 | Machinery room or area; elevator machinery room | 1 | 5.3% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 1 | 5.3% |
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 Butler mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 6 | 31.6% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 4 | 21.1% | |
| 3 | Heat source: other | 2 | 10.5% | |
| 4 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 2 | 10.5% | |
| 5 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 5.3% | |
| 6 | Arcing | 1 | 5.3% | |
| 7 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 1 | 5.3% | |
| 8 | Hot ember or ash | 1 | 5.3% | |
| 9 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 1 | 5.3% |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Butler sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 6,730 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 | 39.9 mi | |
| 1994 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,015 | 44.8 mi | |
| 2006 | Debris and open burning | 612 | 48.7 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 364 | 42.4 mi | |
| 2002 | Natural | 360 | 37.2 mi | |
| 2002 | Arson/incendiarism | 325 | 41.8 mi | |
| 2003 | Arson/incendiarism | 290 | 45.1 mi | |
| 2005 | Debris and open burning | 280 | 39.9 mi | |
| 2012 | Arson/incendiarism | 254 | 42.8 mi | |
| 2018 | Debris and open burning | 252 | 35.4 mi | |
| 2003 | Debris and open burning | 250 | 39.2 mi | |
| 2010 | Natural | 200 | 16.0 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 Butler. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Butler.
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.