In 2025, fire departments serving Marshall responded to 19 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 69% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Feb dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
143 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $216K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 33 | — | |
| 2022 | 21 | -36.4% | |
| 2023 | 33 | +57.1% | |
| 2024 | 37 | +12.1% | |
| 2025 | 19 | -48.6% |
For the 5 building fires Marshall departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 14 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 | 4 | 28.6% | |
| 2 | Cooking area, kitchen | 2 | 14.3% | |
| 3 | Corridor, mall | 1 | 7.1% | |
| 4 | Bathroom, checkroom, lavatory, locker room | 1 | 7.1% | |
| 5 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 1 | 7.1% | |
| 6 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 1 | 7.1% | |
| 7 | Wall surface: exterior | 1 | 7.1% | |
| 8 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 1 | 7.1% | |
| 9 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 1 | 7.1% | |
| 10 | Undetermined | 1 | 7.1% |
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 Marshall mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 6 | 42.9% | |
| 2 | Cigarette | 2 | 14.3% | |
| 3 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 7.1% | |
| 4 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 1 | 7.1% | |
| 5 | Hot ember or ash | 1 | 7.1% | |
| 6 | Candle | 1 | 7.1% | |
| 7 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 1 | 7.1% | |
| 8 | Chemical reaction | 1 | 7.1% |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Marshall sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 11,450 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | Equipment and vehicle use | 1,100 | 31.7 mi | |
| 2003 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,100 | 12.3 mi | |
| 1994 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,015 | 33.4 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 829 | 40.2 mi | |
| 1998 | Equipment and vehicle use | 630 | 40.4 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 617 | 45.9 mi | |
| 2006 | Debris and open burning | 612 | 31.6 mi | |
| 1999 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 580 | 32.0 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 500 | 48.1 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 500 | 14.2 mi | |
| 2003 | Arson/incendiarism | 484 | 26.3 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 364 | 30.6 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 | 53559 | 143 |
Six Wisconsin cities with population within ±25% of Marshall. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Marshall.
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.