In 2025, fire departments serving Kimberly responded to 31 fire and hazmat incidents . Here's the full picture.
Unauthorized burning lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 65% of all calls.
Jun peaks. Feb dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
157 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $147K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 27 | — | |
| 2022 | 26 | -3.7% | |
| 2023 | 31 | +19.2% | |
| 2024 | 42 | +35.5% | |
| 2025 | 31 | -26.2% |
For the 1 building fires Kimberly departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 20 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 | 4 | 20.0% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 3 | 15.0% | |
| 3 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 2 | 10.0% | |
| 4 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 2 | 10.0% | |
| 5 | Undetermined | 2 | 10.0% | |
| 6 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 1 | 5.0% | |
| 7 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 1 | 5.0% | |
| 8 | Storage room, area, tank, or bin | 1 | 5.0% | |
| 9 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 1 | 5.0% | |
| 10 | Wall assembly | 1 | 5.0% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 2 | 10.0% |
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 Kimberly mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 7 | 35.0% | |
| 2 | Heat source: other | 2 | 10.0% | |
| 3 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 2 | 10.0% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 1 | 5.0% | |
| 5 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 5.0% | |
| 6 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 1 | 5.0% | |
| 7 | Explosive, fireworks, other | 1 | 5.0% | |
| 8 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 1 | 5.0% | |
| 9 | Cigarette | 1 | 5.0% | |
| 10 | Match | 1 | 5.0% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 2 | 10.0% |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Kimberly sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 6,043 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 | 43.7 mi | |
| 1998 | Equipment and vehicle use | 630 | 43.5 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 508 | 34.9 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 400 | 21.3 mi | |
| 2019 | Arson/incendiarism | 385 | 21.7 mi | |
| 2015 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 366 | 14.5 mi | |
| 1999 | Debris and open burning | 320 | 37.0 mi | |
| 2020 | Arson/incendiarism | 320 | 21.7 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 275 | 21.8 mi | |
| 2020 | Equipment and vehicle use | 262 | 28.5 mi | |
| 2004 | Debris and open burning | 215 | 47.9 mi | |
| 2003 | Arson/incendiarism | 170 | 46.4 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 | 54136 | 157 |
Six Wisconsin cities with population within ±25% of Kimberly. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Kimberly.
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.