In 2025, fire departments serving Elm Grove responded to 38 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $175K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 84% of all calls.
Jun peaks. Jul dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
250 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $642K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 59 | — | |
| 2022 | 66 | +11.9% | |
| 2023 | 34 | -48.5% | |
| 2024 | 53 | +55.9% | |
| 2025 | 38 | -28.3% |
For the 4 building fires Elm Grove departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 15 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 | 3 | 20.0% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 3 | 20.0% | |
| 3 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 2 | 13.3% | |
| 4 | Dining room, cafeteria bar area, beverage service | 1 | 6.7% | |
| 5 | Bathroom, checkroom, lavatory, locker room | 1 | 6.7% | |
| 6 | Equipment or service area, other | 1 | 6.7% | |
| 7 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 1 | 6.7% | |
| 8 | Ceiling & floor assembly, crawl space b/t stories | 1 | 6.7% | |
| 9 | Cargo/trunk area - all vehicles | 1 | 6.7% | |
| 10 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 1 | 6.7% |
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 Elm Grove mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 5 | 33.3% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 2 | 13.3% | |
| 3 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 2 | 13.3% | |
| 4 | Heat source: other | 1 | 6.7% | |
| 5 | Hot ember or ash | 1 | 6.7% | |
| 6 | Match | 1 | 6.7% | |
| 7 | Candle | 1 | 6.7% | |
| 8 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 1 | 6.7% | |
| 9 | Chemical reaction | 1 | 6.7% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Elm Grove departments in 2025. These 2 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $175,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $15,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Elm Grove sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
6 fire-related casualties recorded in NFIRS Module 11 across the 2021–2025 window. Age, gender, and severity are coarse-binned — no individual identification possible.
| Age | Count | |
|---|---|---|
| 0-9 | 0 | |
| 10-19 | 1 | |
| 20-29 | 0 | |
| 30-39 | 1 | |
| 40-49 | 1 | |
| 50-59 | 2 | |
| 60-69 | 0 | |
| 70-79 | 0 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 7,263 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,100 | 40.4 mi | |
| 1994 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,015 | 47.4 mi | |
| 2015 | Misuse of fire by a minor | 750 | 47.1 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 450 | 46.6 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 364 | 44.8 mi | |
| 2002 | Natural | 360 | 39.6 mi | |
| 2002 | Arson/incendiarism | 325 | 44.6 mi | |
| 2003 | Arson/incendiarism | 290 | 45.0 mi | |
| 2005 | Debris and open burning | 280 | 42.3 mi | |
| 2012 | Arson/incendiarism | 254 | 41.7 mi | |
| 2018 | Debris and open burning | 252 | 34.1 mi | |
| 2003 | Debris and open burning | 250 | 41.9 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 Elm Grove. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
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.