In 2025, fire departments serving Madison responded to 93 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $300K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 80% of all calls.
Aug peaks. Sep dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
625 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $3.0M cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 125 | — | |
| 2022 | 150 | +20.0% | |
| 2023 | 120 | -20.0% | |
| 2024 | 137 | +14.2% | |
| 2025 | 93 | -32.1% |
For the 21 building fires Madison departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 88 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 | 17 | 19.3% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 15 | 17.0% | |
| 3 | Cooking area, kitchen | 7 | 8.0% | |
| 4 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 6 | 6.8% | |
| 5 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 6 | 6.8% | |
| 6 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 4 | 4.5% | |
| 7 | Storage area, other | 4 | 4.5% | |
| 8 | Outside area, other | 4 | 4.5% | |
| 9 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 2 | 2.3% | |
| 10 | Ceiling & floor assembly, crawl space b/t stories | 2 | 2.3% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 21 | 23.9% |
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 Madison mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 52 | 59.1% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 11 | 12.5% | |
| 3 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 6 | 6.8% | |
| 4 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 5 | 5.7% | |
| 5 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 4 | 4.5% | |
| 6 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 3 | 3.4% | |
| 7 | Heat source: other | 1 | 1.1% | |
| 8 | Heat, spark from friction | 1 | 1.1% | |
| 9 | Hot ember or ash | 1 | 1.1% | |
| 10 | Cigarette lighter | 1 | 1.1% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 3 | 3.4% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Madison departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $300,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $200,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $75,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $8,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $2,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $1,500 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Madison sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 3,845 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | Arson/incendiarism | 870 | 16.4 mi | |
| 2010 | Arson/incendiarism | 450 | 16.2 mi | |
| 2004 | Arson/incendiarism | 354 | 16.5 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 300 | 16.5 mi | |
| 2011 | Arson/incendiarism | 280 | 17.4 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 220 | 16.5 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 200 | 16.0 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 182 | 10.7 mi | |
| 2011 | Arson/incendiarism | 100 | 17.1 mi | |
| 2009 | Debris and open burning | 97 | 28.8 mi | |
| 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 74 | 16.5 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 72 | 16.4 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 | 47250 | 625 |
Six Indiana cities with population within ±25% of Madison. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
4 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Madison.
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.