In 2025, fire departments serving Laona responded to 11 fire and hazmat incidents . Here's the full picture.
Grass fire lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 91% of all calls.
Apr peaks. Jan dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
39 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $203K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 4 | — | |
| 2022 | 12 | — | |
| 2023 | 6 | -50.0% | |
| 2024 | 6 | +0.0% | |
| 2025 | 11 | +83.3% |
* Well below Laona'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 0 building fires Laona departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 11 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 | 4 | 36.4% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 2 | 18.2% | |
| 3 | Wildland, woods | 2 | 18.2% | |
| 4 | Function area, other | 1 | 9.1% | |
| 5 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 1 | 9.1% | |
| 6 | Vehicle area, other | 1 | 9.1% |
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 Laona mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 6 | 54.5% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 1 | 9.1% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 1 | 9.1% | |
| 4 | Heat, spark from friction | 1 | 9.1% | |
| 5 | Hot ember or ash | 1 | 9.1% | |
| 6 | Flying brand, ember, spark | 1 | 9.1% |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Laona sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 1,878 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 133 | 43.8 mi | |
| 2010 | Debris and open burning | 129 | 32.9 mi | |
| 2014 | Natural | 110 | 23.4 mi | |
| 2015 | Arson/incendiarism | 103 | 30.3 mi | |
| 2020 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 103 | 37.8 mi | |
| 2000 | Debris and open burning | 98 | 27.0 mi | |
| 2007 | Arson/incendiarism | 94 | 20.3 mi | |
| 2001 | Equipment and vehicle use | 88 | 46.6 mi | |
| 2009 | Recreation and ceremony | 85 | 48.0 mi | |
| 1992 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 77 | 26.8 mi | |
| 2005 | Debris and open burning | 75 | 49.7 mi | |
| 2001 | Other causes | 73 | 31.0 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 | 54541 | 39 |
Six Wisconsin cities with population within ±25% of Laona. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Laona.
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.