In 2025, fire departments serving Iron Ridge responded to 13 fire and hazmat incidents . Here's the full picture.
Building fires lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 100% of all calls.
Apr peaks. Jan dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
71 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 10 | — | |
| 2022 | 15 | +50.0% | |
| 2023 | 10 | -33.3% | |
| 2024 | 23 | +130.0% | |
| 2025 | 13 | -43.5% |
For the 8 building fires Iron Ridge departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 1 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 | Storage room, area, tank, or bin | 1 | 100.0% |
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 Iron Ridge mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 1 | 100.0% |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Iron Ridge sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 9,963 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 | 18.7 mi | |
| 1994 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,015 | 14.6 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 829 | 24.5 mi | |
| 1998 | Equipment and vehicle use | 630 | 24.6 mi | |
| 2006 | Debris and open burning | 612 | 18.1 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 508 | 26.0 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 500 | 44.3 mi | |
| 2003 | Arson/incendiarism | 484 | 34.4 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 400 | 45.3 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 364 | 11.8 mi | |
| 2002 | Natural | 360 | 6.7 mi | |
| 2002 | Arson/incendiarism | 325 | 12.5 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 Iron Ridge. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Iron Ridge.
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.