In 2025, fire departments serving Manitowoc responded to 239 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $150K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Vehicle accident, general cleanup lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 59% of all calls.
Sep peaks. Jul dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
1,179 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2021. $2.6M cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 258 | — | |
| 2022 | 218 | -15.5% | |
| 2023 | 219 | +0.5% | |
| 2024 | 245 | +11.9% | |
| 2025 | 239 | -2.4% |
For the 35 building fires Manitowoc departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 263 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 | Cooking area, kitchen | 44 | 16.7% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 38 | 14.4% | |
| 3 | Undetermined | 24 | 9.1% | |
| 4 | Outside area, other | 21 | 8.0% | |
| 5 | Wall surface: exterior | 14 | 5.3% | |
| 6 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 13 | 4.9% | |
| 7 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 10 | 3.8% | |
| 8 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 9 | 3.4% | |
| 9 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 8 | 3.0% | |
| 10 | Other | 7 | 2.7% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 75 | 28.5% |
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 Manitowoc mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 49 | 18.6% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 32 | 12.2% | |
| 3 | Heat source: other | 27 | 10.3% | |
| 4 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 26 | 9.9% | |
| 5 | Hot ember or ash | 20 | 7.6% | |
| 6 | Arcing | 18 | 6.8% | |
| 7 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 13 | 4.9% | |
| 8 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 12 | 4.6% | |
| 9 | Cigarette | 9 | 3.4% | |
| 10 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 8 | 3.0% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 49 | 18.6% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Manitowoc departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 98% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $150,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $75,000 | Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $30,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $25,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $20,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $10,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $10,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $7,000 | Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Manitowoc sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
14 fire-related casualties recorded in NFIRS Module 11 across the 2021–2025 window. Age, gender, and severity are coarse-binned — no individual identification possible.
| Age | Count | |
|---|---|---|
| 0-9 | 0 | |
| 10-19 | 1 | |
| 20-29 | 1 | |
| 30-39 | 4 | |
| 40-49 | 1 | |
| 50-59 | 3 | |
| 60-69 | 2 | |
| 70-79 | 1 | |
| 80+ | 1 |
Top 22 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 1,561 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 508 | 46.2 mi | |
| 2015 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 366 | 47.9 mi | |
| 1999 | Smoking | 100 | 48.2 mi | |
| 1994 | Arson/incendiarism | 85 | 14.5 mi | |
| 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 57 | 48.8 mi | |
| 2015 | Equipment and vehicle use | 56 | 33.0 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 42 | 49.2 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 41 | 47.5 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 40 | 41.8 mi | |
| 2018 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 37 | 47.3 mi | |
| 1998 | Arson/incendiarism | 35 | 47.8 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 34 | 37.1 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 Wisconsin cities with population within ±25% of Manitowoc. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
3 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Manitowoc.
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.