In 2025, fire departments serving Madison responded to 142 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $34K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Building fires lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 73% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Nov dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
454 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $66K cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 59 | — | |
| 2022 | 76 | +28.8% | |
| 2023 | 90 | +18.4% | |
| 2024 | 87 | -3.3% | |
| 2025 | 142 | +63.2% |
For the 38 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 155 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 | 63 | 40.6% | |
| 2 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 15 | 9.7% | |
| 3 | Cooking area, kitchen | 10 | 6.5% | |
| 4 | Outside area, other | 9 | 5.8% | |
| 5 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 6 | 3.9% | |
| 6 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 6 | 3.9% | |
| 7 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 5 | 3.2% | |
| 8 | Storage: supplies or tools; dead storage | 4 | 2.6% | |
| 9 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 4 | 2.6% | |
| 10 | Wildland, woods | 4 | 2.6% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 29 | 18.7% |
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 | 58 | 37.4% | |
| 2 | Hot ember or ash | 28 | 18.1% | |
| 3 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 14 | 9.0% | |
| 4 | Cigarette lighter | 11 | 7.1% | |
| 5 | Arcing | 9 | 5.8% | |
| 6 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 8 | 5.2% | |
| 7 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 7 | 4.5% | |
| 8 | Heat source: other | 3 | 1.9% | |
| 9 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 3 | 1.9% | |
| 10 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 3 | 1.9% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 11 | 7.1% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Madison departments in 2025. These 3 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $33,900 | Fire in mobile home used as fixed residence | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $11,400 | Fire in mobile prop. used as a fixed struc., other | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $5,000 | Self-propelled motor home or recreational vehicle | 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. 69,607 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | Fireworks | 4,637 | 26.7 mi | |
| 1994 | Fireworks | 4,552 | 34.9 mi | |
| 1999 | Fireworks | 3,706 | 37.1 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 3,484 | 22.9 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 3,475 | 35.3 mi | |
| 1999 | Fireworks | 3,358 | 24.6 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 3,328 | 5.1 mi | |
| 2001 | Fireworks | 3,186 | 25.0 mi | |
| 1999 | Fireworks | 3,171 | 12.0 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 3,082 | 3.6 mi | |
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,859 | 34.5 mi | |
| 1999 | Debris and open burning | 2,575 | 44.9 mi |
Top 2 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
Six West Virginia 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.