In 2025, fire departments serving Kaukauna responded to 121 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $135K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Building fires lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 53% of all calls.
Jan peaks. Jul dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
584 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $2.0M cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 111 | — | |
| 2022 | 121 | +9.0% | |
| 2023 | 94 | -22.3% | |
| 2024 | 137 | +45.7% | |
| 2025 | 121 | -11.7% |
For the 17 building fires Kaukauna departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 143 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 | 19 | 13.3% | |
| 2 | Cooking area, kitchen | 16 | 11.2% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 13 | 9.1% | |
| 4 | Undetermined | 13 | 9.1% | |
| 5 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 8 | 5.6% | |
| 6 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 7 | 4.9% | |
| 7 | Vehicle area, other | 7 | 4.9% | |
| 8 | Processing/manufacturing area, workroom | 5 | 3.5% | |
| 9 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 5 | 3.5% | |
| 10 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 4 | 2.8% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 46 | 32.2% |
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 Kaukauna mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 38 | 26.6% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 25 | 17.5% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 14 | 9.8% | |
| 4 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 11 | 7.7% | |
| 5 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 9 | 6.3% | |
| 6 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 8 | 5.6% | |
| 7 | Heat source: other | 5 | 3.5% | |
| 8 | Hot ember or ash | 5 | 3.5% | |
| 9 | Cigarette | 4 | 2.8% | |
| 10 | Cigarette lighter | 4 | 2.8% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 20 | 14.0% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Kaukauna departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 98% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $135,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $40,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $40,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $15,000 | Fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $10,000 | Self-propelled motor home or recreational vehicle | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $10,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $10,000 | Accident, potential accident, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $2,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Kaukauna sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
5 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 | 1 | |
| 30-39 | 1 | |
| 40-49 | 0 | |
| 50-59 | 1 | |
| 60-69 | 0 | |
| 70-79 | 1 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 5,961 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 829 | 46.2 mi | |
| 1998 | Equipment and vehicle use | 630 | 45.9 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 508 | 36.6 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 400 | 24.5 mi | |
| 2019 | Arson/incendiarism | 385 | 25.4 mi | |
| 2015 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 366 | 18.2 mi | |
| 1999 | Debris and open burning | 320 | 40.6 mi | |
| 2020 | Arson/incendiarism | 320 | 25.5 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 275 | 25.5 mi | |
| 2020 | Equipment and vehicle use | 262 | 32.1 mi | |
| 2004 | Debris and open burning | 215 | 45.6 mi | |
| 2003 | Arson/incendiarism | 170 | 49.8 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 | 54130 | 584 |
Six Wisconsin cities with population within ±25% of Kaukauna. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
2 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Kaukauna.
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.