In 2025, fire departments serving Janesville responded to 15 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $1K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Grass fire lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 67% of all calls.
Apr peaks. Jun dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
67 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $314K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 17 | — | |
| 2022 | 21 | +23.5% | |
| 2023 | 9 | -57.1% | |
| 2024* | 5 | — | |
| 2025 | 15 | — |
* Well below Janesville'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 3 building fires Janesville departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 22 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 | 6 | 27.3% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 4 | 18.2% | |
| 3 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 2 | 9.1% | |
| 4 | Wall surface: exterior | 2 | 9.1% | |
| 5 | Exterior, exposed surface | 2 | 9.1% | |
| 6 | Exterior stairway, ramp, or fire escape | 1 | 4.5% | |
| 7 | Function area, other | 1 | 4.5% | |
| 8 | Cooking area, kitchen | 1 | 4.5% | |
| 9 | Cargo/trunk area - all vehicles | 1 | 4.5% | |
| 10 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 1 | 4.5% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 1 | 4.5% |
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 Janesville mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 8 | 36.4% | |
| 2 | Heat, spark from friction | 4 | 18.2% | |
| 3 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 2 | 9.1% | |
| 4 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 2 | 9.1% | |
| 5 | Hot ember or ash | 2 | 9.1% | |
| 6 | Heat source: other | 1 | 4.5% | |
| 7 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 1 | 4.5% | |
| 8 | Arcing | 1 | 4.5% | |
| 9 | Molten, hot material | 1 | 4.5% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Janesville departments in 2025. These 4 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $1,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $1 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $1 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $1 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Janesville sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 5,728 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,909 | 9.0 mi | |
| 2012 | Debris and open burning | 400 | 14.4 mi | |
| 1996 | Arson/incendiarism | 290 | 18.2 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 225 | 20.3 mi | |
| 2012 | Debris and open burning | 200 | 46.3 mi | |
| 2003 | Equipment and vehicle use | 200 | 43.8 mi | |
| 2000 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 180 | 48.6 mi | |
| 2000 | Debris and open burning | 177 | 32.1 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 150 | 25.4 mi | |
| 2009 | Debris and open burning | 144 | 47.4 mi | |
| 2007 | Debris and open burning | 100 | 38.0 mi | |
| 2010 | Recreation and ceremony | 85 | 49.7 mi |
Top 1 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
| # | ZIP | 5-yr incidents | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 56048 | 67 |
Six Minnesota cities with population within ±25% of Janesville. 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.