In 2025, fire departments serving Hudson responded to 127 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $455K 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 55% of all calls.
May peaks. Sep dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
769 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $4.8M cumulative property loss. 5 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 148 | — | |
| 2022 | 132 | -10.8% | |
| 2023 | 198 | +50.0% | |
| 2024 | 164 | -17.2% | |
| 2025 | 127 | -22.6% |
For the 19 building fires Hudson departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 155 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 | 33 | 21.3% | |
| 2 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 21 | 13.5% | |
| 3 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 14 | 9.0% | |
| 4 | Outside area, other | 10 | 6.5% | |
| 5 | Undetermined | 8 | 5.2% | |
| 6 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 7 | 4.5% | |
| 7 | Vehicle area, other | 6 | 3.9% | |
| 8 | Other | 5 | 3.2% | |
| 9 | Cooking area, kitchen | 5 | 3.2% | |
| 10 | Bathroom, checkroom, lavatory, locker room | 5 | 3.2% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 41 | 26.5% |
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 Hudson mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 39 | 25.2% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 21 | 13.5% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 13 | 8.4% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 10 | 6.5% | |
| 5 | Hot ember or ash | 10 | 6.5% | |
| 6 | Heat source: other | 8 | 5.2% | |
| 7 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 8 | 5.2% | |
| 8 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 7 | 4.5% | |
| 9 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 7 | 4.5% | |
| 10 | Chemical reaction | 6 | 3.9% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 26 | 16.8% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Hudson departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 98% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $455,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $85,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $45,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $30,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $22,000 | Fire in motor home, camper, recreational vehicle | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $20,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $20,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $6,500 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Hudson sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
8 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 | 0 | |
| 20-29 | 2 | |
| 30-39 | 0 | |
| 40-49 | 1 | |
| 50-59 | 0 | |
| 60-69 | 1 | |
| 70-79 | 3 | |
| 80+ | 1 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 16,331 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 | 8,513 | 31.0 mi | |
| 2009 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,550 | 29.1 mi | |
| 2004 | Recreation and ceremony | 1,000 | 26.0 mi | |
| 2000 | Smoking | 420 | 36.1 mi | |
| 2010 | Equipment and vehicle use | 336 | 35.0 mi | |
| 1999 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 306 | 34.5 mi | |
| 2005 | Debris and open burning | 260 | 7.3 mi | |
| 2004 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 250 | 26.7 mi | |
| 2007 | Recreation and ceremony | 248 | 31.0 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 217 | 27.0 mi | |
| 1995 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 200 | 28.6 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 200 | 23.1 mi |
Top 3 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 Hudson. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
2 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Hudson.
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.