In 2025, fire departments serving Cottage Grove responded to 28 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $8K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Unauthorized burning lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 64% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Jul dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
214 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2021. $962K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 59 | — | |
| 2022 | 56 | -5.1% | |
| 2023 | 39 | -30.4% | |
| 2024 | 32 | -17.9% | |
| 2025 | 28 | -12.5% |
For the 3 building fires Cottage Grove departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 46 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 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 9 | 19.6% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 8 | 17.4% | |
| 3 | Undetermined | 7 | 15.2% | |
| 4 | Cooking area, kitchen | 5 | 10.9% | |
| 5 | Outside area, other | 4 | 8.7% | |
| 6 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 2 | 4.3% | |
| 7 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 2 | 4.3% | |
| 8 | Wall surface: exterior | 2 | 4.3% | |
| 9 | Vehicle area, other | 2 | 4.3% | |
| 10 | Wildland, woods | 2 | 4.3% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 3 | 6.5% |
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 Cottage Grove mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 11 | 23.9% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 8 | 17.4% | |
| 3 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 5 | 10.9% | |
| 4 | Heat, spark from friction | 5 | 10.9% | |
| 5 | Cigarette | 4 | 8.7% | |
| 6 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 4 | 8.7% | |
| 7 | Arcing | 2 | 4.3% | |
| 8 | Chemical reaction | 2 | 4.3% | |
| 9 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 2.2% | |
| 10 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 1 | 2.2% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 3 | 6.5% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Cottage Grove departments in 2025. These 3 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $7,500 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $1,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $500 | Cooking fire, confined to container | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Cottage Grove sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 11,450 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | Equipment and vehicle use | 1,100 | 24.2 mi | |
| 2003 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,100 | 21.3 mi | |
| 1994 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,015 | 42.2 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 829 | 48.3 mi | |
| 1998 | Equipment and vehicle use | 630 | 48.5 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 617 | 37.0 mi | |
| 2006 | Debris and open burning | 612 | 40.0 mi | |
| 1999 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 580 | 24.5 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 500 | 41.1 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 500 | 7.6 mi | |
| 2003 | Arson/incendiarism | 484 | 31.1 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 364 | 39.5 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 Cottage Grove. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Cottage Grove.
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.