In 2025, fire departments serving De Soto responded to 12 fire and hazmat incidents . Here's the full picture.
Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 67% of all calls.
Jan peaks. Jun dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
48 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $56K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 9 | — | |
| 2022 | 9 | +0.0% | |
| 2023 | 6 | -33.3% | |
| 2024 | 12 | +100.0% | |
| 2025 | 12 | +0.0% |
For the 0 building fires De Soto departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 9 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 | 5 | 55.6% | |
| 2 | Other | 1 | 11.1% | |
| 3 | Attic: vacant, crawl space above top story, cupola | 1 | 11.1% | |
| 4 | Wall assembly | 1 | 11.1% | |
| 5 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 1 | 11.1% |
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 De Soto mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 6 | 66.7% | |
| 2 | Heat source: other | 2 | 22.2% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 1 | 11.1% |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. De Soto sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 4,153 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,400 | 48.3 mi | |
| 2018 | Debris and open burning | 300 | 24.2 mi | |
| 2018 | Debris and open burning | 300 | 20.8 mi | |
| 2012 | Equipment and vehicle use | 195 | 20.5 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 189 | 26.9 mi | |
| 2012 | Equipment and vehicle use | 166 | 7.0 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 140 | 42.7 mi | |
| 1999 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 124 | 11.0 mi | |
| 2003 | Debris and open burning | 104 | 32.3 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 100 | 38.3 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 100 | 42.0 mi | |
| 2009 | Equipment and vehicle use | 93 | 40.5 mi |
Top 1 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
| # | ZIP | 5-yr incidents | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 54624 | 48 |
Six Wisconsin cities with population within ±25% of De Soto. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in De Soto.
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.