In 2025, fire departments serving Hales Corners responded to 53 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $200K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Carbon monoxide incident lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 72% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Jul dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
374 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $516K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 75 | — | |
| 2022 | 98 | +30.7% | |
| 2023 | 61 | -37.8% | |
| 2024 | 87 | +42.6% | |
| 2025 | 53 | -39.1% |
For the 5 building fires Hales Corners departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 64 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 | Cooking area, kitchen | 17 | 26.6% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 9 | 14.1% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 7 | 10.9% | |
| 4 | Wall surface: exterior | 4 | 6.2% | |
| 5 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 3 | 4.7% | |
| 6 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 3 | 4.7% | |
| 7 | Wildland, woods | 3 | 4.7% | |
| 8 | Other | 2 | 3.1% | |
| 9 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 2 | 3.1% | |
| 10 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 2 | 3.1% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 12 | 18.8% |
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 Hales Corners mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 13 | 20.3% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 11 | 17.2% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 7 | 10.9% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 6 | 9.4% | |
| 5 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 5 | 7.8% | |
| 6 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 4 | 6.2% | |
| 7 | Hot ember or ash | 4 | 6.2% | |
| 8 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 3 | 4.7% | |
| 9 | Heat source: other | 2 | 3.1% | |
| 10 | Cigarette | 2 | 3.1% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 7 | 10.9% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Hales Corners departments in 2025. These 3 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $200,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $20,000 | Attempted burning, illegal action, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $5,000 | Cooking fire, confined to container | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Hales Corners sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 5,281 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 | 45.2 mi | |
| 2015 | Misuse of fire by a minor | 750 | 39.5 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 450 | 39.0 mi | |
| 2002 | Natural | 360 | 46.5 mi | |
| 2003 | Arson/incendiarism | 290 | 48.9 mi | |
| 2005 | Debris and open burning | 280 | 49.3 mi | |
| 2012 | Arson/incendiarism | 254 | 43.9 mi | |
| 2018 | Debris and open burning | 252 | 36.2 mi | |
| 2003 | Debris and open burning | 250 | 49.0 mi | |
| 2010 | Natural | 200 | 5.9 mi | |
| 2010 | Natural | 180 | 6.3 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 139 | 48.2 mi |
Top 8 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 Hales Corners. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Hales Corners.
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.