In 2025, fire departments serving Dodgeville responded to 42 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $70K 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 59% of all calls.
Sep peaks. Jun dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
194 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $558K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 32 | — | |
| 2022* | 18 | — | |
| 2023 | 46 | — | |
| 2024 | 56 | +21.7% | |
| 2025 | 42 | -25.0% |
* Well below Dodgeville'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 Dodgeville departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 42 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 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 15 | 35.7% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 5 | 11.9% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 3 | 7.1% | |
| 4 | Other | 2 | 4.8% | |
| 5 | Structural area, other | 2 | 4.8% | |
| 6 | Interior stairway or ramp | 1 | 2.4% | |
| 7 | Entrance way, lobby | 1 | 2.4% | |
| 8 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 1 | 2.4% | |
| 9 | Dining room, cafeteria bar area, beverage service | 1 | 2.4% | |
| 10 | Cooking area, kitchen | 1 | 2.4% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 10 | 23.8% |
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 Dodgeville mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 11 | 26.2% | |
| 2 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 7 | 16.7% | |
| 3 | Heat, spark from friction | 5 | 11.9% | |
| 4 | Heat source: other | 4 | 9.5% | |
| 5 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 4 | 9.5% | |
| 6 | Arcing | 3 | 7.1% | |
| 7 | Hot ember or ash | 3 | 7.1% | |
| 8 | Flying brand, ember, spark | 2 | 4.8% | |
| 9 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 1 | 2.4% | |
| 10 | Cigarette lighter | 1 | 2.4% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 1 | 2.4% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Dodgeville departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $70,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $17,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $15,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $7,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $6,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $3,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $2,500 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $1,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Dodgeville sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 6,161 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 | 17.9 mi | |
| 2000 | Equipment and vehicle use | 1,100 | 44.3 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 617 | 31.6 mi | |
| 1999 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 580 | 44.9 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 500 | 41.7 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 189 | 39.4 mi | |
| 2004 | Smoking | 169 | 44.9 mi | |
| 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 165 | 48.3 mi | |
| 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 130 | 2.3 mi | |
| 2018 | Debris and open burning | 125 | 6.1 mi | |
| 2003 | Debris and open burning | 104 | 43.8 mi | |
| 2009 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 100 | 11.0 mi |
Top 4 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 Dodgeville. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Dodgeville.
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.