In 2025, fire departments serving Linden responded to 15 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 100% of all calls.
Jan peaks. Feb dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
30 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $10K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 5 | — | |
| 2022* | 2 | — | |
| 2023 | 6 | — | |
| 2024* | 2 | — | |
| 2025 | 15 | — |
* Well below Linden'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 7 building fires Linden departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 10 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 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 2 | 20.0% | |
| 2 | Vacant structural area | 2 | 20.0% | |
| 3 | Other | 1 | 10.0% | |
| 4 | Vehicle area, other | 1 | 10.0% | |
| 5 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 1 | 10.0% | |
| 6 | Outside area, other | 1 | 10.0% | |
| 7 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 1 | 10.0% | |
| 8 | Undetermined | 1 | 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 Linden mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Heat source: other | 3 | 30.0% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 3 | 30.0% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 2 | 20.0% | |
| 4 | Heat, spark from friction | 1 | 10.0% | |
| 5 | Hot ember or ash | 1 | 10.0% |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Linden sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 4,647 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,400 | 19.2 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 617 | 35.8 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 500 | 49.7 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 200 | 46.2 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 189 | 33.6 mi | |
| 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 165 | 40.3 mi | |
| 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 130 | 9.3 mi | |
| 2018 | Debris and open burning | 125 | 10.4 mi | |
| 2003 | Debris and open burning | 104 | 43.8 mi | |
| 2009 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 100 | 4.1 mi | |
| 2004 | Recreation and ceremony | 100 | 42.1 mi | |
| 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 100 | 27.9 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 | 53553 | 30 |
Six Wisconsin cities with population within ±25% of Linden. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Linden.
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.