In 2025, fire departments serving Cumberland responded to 40 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $100K 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 68% of all calls.
Apr peaks. Sep dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
190 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $781K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 22 | — | |
| 2022 | 41 | — | |
| 2023 | 38 | -7.3% | |
| 2024 | 49 | +28.9% | |
| 2025 | 40 | -18.4% |
* Well below Cumberland'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 9 building fires Cumberland departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 66 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 | 14 | 21.2% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 10 | 15.2% | |
| 3 | Other | 7 | 10.6% | |
| 4 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 5 | 7.6% | |
| 5 | Storage area, other | 3 | 4.5% | |
| 6 | Wall assembly | 3 | 4.5% | |
| 7 | Outside area, other | 3 | 4.5% | |
| 8 | Cooking area, kitchen | 2 | 3.0% | |
| 9 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 2 | 3.0% | |
| 10 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 2 | 3.0% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 15 | 22.7% |
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 Cumberland mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 39 | 59.1% | |
| 2 | Heat source: other | 5 | 7.6% | |
| 3 | Cigarette | 5 | 7.6% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 3 | 4.5% | |
| 5 | Arcing | 3 | 4.5% | |
| 6 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 2 | 3.0% | |
| 7 | Hot ember or ash | 2 | 3.0% | |
| 8 | Chemical reaction | 2 | 3.0% | |
| 9 | Conducted heat from another fire | 2 | 3.0% | |
| 10 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 1.5% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 2 | 3.0% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Cumberland departments in 2025. These 5 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $40,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $10,000 | Fires in structures other than in a building | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $100 | Grass fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Cumberland sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 5,392 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | Debris and open burning | 1,350 | 38.1 mi | |
| 2013 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 656 | 36.7 mi | |
| 2009 | Fireworks | 390 | 48.3 mi | |
| 2005 | Debris and open burning | 260 | 45.0 mi | |
| 2004 | Arson/incendiarism | 250 | 48.9 mi | |
| 1998 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 240 | 45.7 mi | |
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 170 | 36.4 mi | |
| 2012 | Debris and open burning | 160 | 44.1 mi | |
| 2010 | Equipment and vehicle use | 153 | 35.0 mi | |
| 2003 | Debris and open burning | 148 | 36.0 mi | |
| 1998 | Arson/incendiarism | 140 | 6.5 mi | |
| 2003 | Debris and open burning | 132 | 45.1 mi |
Top 2 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 Cumberland. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Cumberland.
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.