In 2025, fire departments serving Madison responded to 58 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 62% of all calls.
Aug peaks. Feb dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
109 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 5 | — | |
| 2022* | 12 | — | |
| 2023* | 11 | — | |
| 2024 | 23 | — | |
| 2025 | 58 | +152.2% |
* Well below Madison'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 8 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 30 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 | 11 | 36.7% | |
| 2 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 9 | 30.0% | |
| 3 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 3 | 10.0% | |
| 4 | Courtyard, patio, porch, terrace | 2 | 6.7% | |
| 5 | Processing/manufacturing area, workroom | 1 | 3.3% | |
| 6 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 1 | 3.3% | |
| 7 | Duct: hvac, cable, exhaust, heating, or AC | 1 | 3.3% | |
| 8 | Outside area, other | 1 | 3.3% | |
| 9 | Wildland, woods | 1 | 3.3% |
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 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 11 | 36.7% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 8 | 26.7% | |
| 3 | Cigarette lighter | 2 | 6.7% | |
| 4 | Lightning | 2 | 6.7% | |
| 5 | Flying brand, ember, spark | 2 | 6.7% | |
| 6 | Heat source: other | 1 | 3.3% | |
| 7 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 3.3% | |
| 8 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 1 | 3.3% | |
| 9 | Hot ember or ash | 1 | 3.3% | |
| 10 | Chemical reaction | 1 | 3.3% |
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. 2,144 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 329 | 8.5 mi | |
| 2018 | Debris and open burning | 314 | 42.7 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 275 | 9.4 mi | |
| 2001 | Misuse of fire by a minor | 236 | 49.6 mi | |
| 2004 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 139 | 12.1 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 92 | 37.0 mi | |
| 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 72 | 33.0 mi | |
| 1992 | Arson/incendiarism | 64 | 48.5 mi | |
| 1995 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 60 | 17.8 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 54 | 34.8 mi | |
| 2000 | Debris and open burning | 51 | 33.3 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 50 | 24.3 mi |
Top 3 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
Six New Hampshire cities with population within ±25% of Madison. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 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.