In 2025, fire departments serving Cornell responded to 12 fire and hazmat incidents . Here's the full picture.
Incomplete 2025 data. Cornell's departments reported 12 incidents to NFIRS for 2025, against about 25 in a typical year, so 2025 figures on this page undercount. The 2021–2025 totals are the better guide.
Building fires lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 83% of all calls.
Jan peaks. May dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
127 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $840K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 28 | — | |
| 2022 | 29 | +3.6% | |
| 2023 | 39 | +34.5% | |
| 2024 | 19 | -51.3% | |
| 2025* | 12 | — |
* Well below Cornell'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 5 building fires Cornell departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 30 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 | 7 | 23.3% | |
| 2 | Storage area, other | 4 | 13.3% | |
| 3 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 3 | 10.0% | |
| 4 | Attic: vacant, crawl space above top story, cupola | 2 | 6.7% | |
| 5 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 2 | 6.7% | |
| 6 | Other | 1 | 3.3% | |
| 7 | Entrance way, lobby | 1 | 3.3% | |
| 8 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 1 | 3.3% | |
| 9 | Cooking area, kitchen | 1 | 3.3% | |
| 10 | Processing/manufacturing area, workroom | 1 | 3.3% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 7 | 23.3% |
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 Cornell mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 9 | 30.0% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 5 | 16.7% | |
| 3 | Hot ember or ash | 4 | 13.3% | |
| 4 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 3 | 10.0% | |
| 5 | Heat source: other | 2 | 6.7% | |
| 6 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 1 | 3.3% | |
| 7 | Heat, spark from friction | 1 | 3.3% | |
| 8 | Explosive, fireworks, other | 1 | 3.3% | |
| 9 | Lightning | 1 | 3.3% | |
| 10 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 1 | 3.3% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 2 | 6.7% |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Cornell sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 2,699 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1994 | Recreation and ceremony | 553 | 30.8 mi | |
| 2009 | Fireworks | 390 | 36.4 mi | |
| 1998 | Recreation and ceremony | 250 | 32.0 mi | |
| 2003 | Debris and open burning | 148 | 43.0 mi | |
| 2018 | Debris and open burning | 124 | 39.1 mi | |
| 2018 | Debris and open burning | 122 | 38.3 mi | |
| 2003 | Recreation and ceremony | 113 | 23.0 mi | |
| 2018 | Arson/incendiarism | 104 | 37.8 mi | |
| 1993 | Arson/incendiarism | 75 | 14.8 mi | |
| 1994 | Equipment and vehicle use | 74 | 49.2 mi | |
| 1996 | Debris and open burning | 69 | 48.9 mi | |
| 2003 | Recreation and ceremony | 60 | 32.2 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 Cornell. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Cornell.
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.