In 2025, fire departments serving Melrose responded to 22 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $40K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Power line down lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 73% of all calls.
May peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
70 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $1.2M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 10 | — | |
| 2022 | 16 | +60.0% | |
| 2023* | 7 | — | |
| 2024 | 15 | — | |
| 2025 | 22 | +46.7% |
* Well below Melrose'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 0 building fires Melrose departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 18 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 | 5 | 27.8% | |
| 2 | Wall assembly | 2 | 11.1% | |
| 3 | Vehicle area, other | 2 | 11.1% | |
| 4 | Outside area, other | 2 | 11.1% | |
| 5 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 2 | 11.1% | |
| 6 | Other | 1 | 5.6% | |
| 7 | Equipment or service area, other | 1 | 5.6% | |
| 8 | Maintenance shop or area, paint shop or area | 1 | 5.6% | |
| 9 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 1 | 5.6% | |
| 10 | Exterior, exposed surface | 1 | 5.6% |
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 Melrose mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 9 | 50.0% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 2 | 11.1% | |
| 3 | Heat, spark from friction | 2 | 11.1% | |
| 4 | Hot ember or ash | 2 | 11.1% | |
| 5 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 5.6% | |
| 6 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 1 | 5.6% | |
| 7 | Chemical, natural heat source, other | 1 | 5.6% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Melrose departments in 2025. These 3 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $40,000 | Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $13,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $7,500 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Melrose sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 5,557 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,200 | 20.5 mi | |
| 1994 | Recreation and ceremony | 553 | 41.5 mi | |
| 2003 | Debris and open burning | 384 | 39.6 mi | |
| 2000 | Debris and open burning | 360 | 8.6 mi | |
| 2015 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 337 | 44.2 mi | |
| 1998 | Arson/incendiarism | 295 | 47.2 mi | |
| 1998 | Recreation and ceremony | 250 | 40.0 mi | |
| 2020 | Recreation and ceremony | 234 | 43.8 mi | |
| 2012 | Equipment and vehicle use | 195 | 31.5 mi | |
| 2012 | Equipment and vehicle use | 166 | 45.2 mi | |
| 1992 | Equipment and vehicle use | 161 | 45.6 mi | |
| 2007 | Recreation and ceremony | 159 | 13.5 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 Melrose. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Melrose.
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.