In 2025, fire departments serving Lake Geneva responded to 142 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 56% of all calls.
Dec peaks. May dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
748 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $748K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 106 | — | |
| 2022 | 147 | +38.7% | |
| 2023 | 166 | +12.9% | |
| 2024 | 187 | +12.7% | |
| 2025 | 142 | -24.1% |
For the 28 building fires Lake Geneva departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 148 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 | 21 | 14.2% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 21 | 14.2% | |
| 3 | Undetermined | 16 | 10.8% | |
| 4 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 13 | 8.8% | |
| 5 | Wildland, woods | 12 | 8.1% | |
| 6 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 5 | 3.4% | |
| 7 | Wall surface: exterior | 5 | 3.4% | |
| 8 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 4 | 2.7% | |
| 9 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 4 | 2.7% | |
| 10 | Attic: vacant, crawl space above top story, cupola | 4 | 2.7% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 43 | 29.1% |
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 Lake Geneva mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 52 | 35.1% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 20 | 13.5% | |
| 3 | Hot ember or ash | 13 | 8.8% | |
| 4 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 9 | 6.1% | |
| 5 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 6 | 4.1% | |
| 6 | Cigarette | 6 | 4.1% | |
| 7 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 5 | 3.4% | |
| 8 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 4 | 2.7% | |
| 9 | Heat, spark from friction | 4 | 2.7% | |
| 10 | Multiple heat sources including multiple ignitions | 4 | 2.7% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 25 | 16.9% |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Lake Geneva sits above 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 | 0 | |
| 20-29 | 3 | |
| 30-39 | 2 | |
| 40-49 | 0 | |
| 50-59 | 0 | |
| 60-69 | 0 | |
| 70-79 | 0 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 5,743 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | Equipment and vehicle use | 1,100 | 46.1 mi | |
| 2015 | Misuse of fire by a minor | 750 | 34.2 mi | |
| 1999 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 580 | 45.5 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 500 | 45.8 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 450 | 33.0 mi | |
| 2003 | Arson/incendiarism | 290 | 49.4 mi | |
| 2012 | Arson/incendiarism | 254 | 39.0 mi | |
| 2018 | Debris and open burning | 252 | 34.1 mi | |
| 2010 | Natural | 200 | 25.5 mi | |
| 2010 | Natural | 180 | 25.1 mi | |
| 2004 | Smoking | 169 | 45.4 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 139 | 48.9 mi |
Top 4 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 Lake Geneva. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
2 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Lake Geneva.
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.