In 2025, fire departments serving La Crosse responded to 25 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $25K 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 56% of all calls.
Jan peaks. Apr dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
134 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2021. $151K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 40 | — | |
| 2022 | 29 | -27.5% | |
| 2023 | 21 | -27.6% | |
| 2024 | 19 | -9.5% | |
| 2025 | 25 | +31.6% |
For the 4 building fires La Crosse departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 26 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 | Undetermined | 19 | 73.1% | |
| 2 | Cooking area, kitchen | 1 | 3.8% | |
| 3 | Duct: hvac, cable, exhaust, heating, or AC | 1 | 3.8% | |
| 4 | Substructure area or space, crawl space | 1 | 3.8% | |
| 5 | Vehicle area, other | 1 | 3.8% | |
| 6 | Exterior, exposed surface | 1 | 3.8% | |
| 7 | Outside area, other | 1 | 3.8% | |
| 8 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 1 | 3.8% |
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 La Crosse mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 25 | 96.2% | |
| 2 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 1 | 3.8% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by La Crosse departments in 2025. These 5 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $25,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $5,000 | Fuel burner/boiler malfunction, fire confined | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $5,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $1,000 | Outside storage fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $1,000 | Outside storage fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. La Crosse sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 16,258 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,850 | 37.6 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,030 | 26.7 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,012 | 34.2 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,778 | 42.4 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,521 | 43.2 mi | |
| 2008 | Equipment and vehicle use | 1,250 | 26.0 mi | |
| 2001 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 865 | 22.5 mi | |
| 2011 | Debris and open burning | 545 | 28.3 mi | |
| 2001 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 456 | 40.8 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 274 | 41.4 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 257 | 42.0 mi | |
| 2001 | Debris and open burning | 254 | 45.0 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 | 23950 | 134 |
Six Virginia cities with population within ±25% of La Crosse. 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.