In 2025, fire departments serving Menasha responded to 98 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $150K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 62% of all calls.
Aug peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
661 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2021. $1.3M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 164 | — | |
| 2022 | 128 | -22.0% | |
| 2023 | 138 | +7.8% | |
| 2024 | 133 | -3.6% | |
| 2025 | 98 | -26.3% |
For the 12 building fires Menasha departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 112 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 | 21 | 18.8% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 11 | 9.8% | |
| 3 | Undetermined | 11 | 9.8% | |
| 4 | Processing/manufacturing area, workroom | 7 | 6.2% | |
| 5 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 6 | 5.4% | |
| 6 | Outside area, other | 5 | 4.5% | |
| 7 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 5 | 4.5% | |
| 8 | Wall assembly | 4 | 3.6% | |
| 9 | Exterior, exposed surface | 4 | 3.6% | |
| 10 | Duct: hvac, cable, exhaust, heating, or AC | 3 | 2.7% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 35 | 31.2% |
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 Menasha mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 41 | 36.6% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 16 | 14.3% | |
| 3 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 9 | 8.0% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 8 | 7.1% | |
| 5 | Heat source: other | 7 | 6.2% | |
| 6 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 6 | 5.4% | |
| 7 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 4 | 3.6% | |
| 8 | Hot ember or ash | 3 | 2.7% | |
| 9 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 3 | 2.7% | |
| 10 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 2 | 1.8% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 13 | 11.6% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Menasha departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 97% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $150,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $121,020 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $82,514 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $25,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $10,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $10,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $5,000 | Trash or rubbish fire, contained | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $5,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Menasha sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
10 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 | 0 | |
| 20-29 | 0 | |
| 30-39 | 0 | |
| 40-49 | 0 | |
| 50-59 | 1 | |
| 60-69 | 0 | |
| 70-79 | 0 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 8,864 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1994 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,015 | 46.0 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 829 | 38.3 mi | |
| 1998 | Equipment and vehicle use | 630 | 38.1 mi | |
| 2006 | Debris and open burning | 612 | 47.0 mi | |
| 2003 | Debris and open burning | 572 | 48.2 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 508 | 30.5 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 400 | 15.6 mi | |
| 2019 | Arson/incendiarism | 385 | 16.7 mi | |
| 2015 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 366 | 10.1 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 364 | 49.3 mi | |
| 2002 | Arson/incendiarism | 325 | 45.3 mi | |
| 1999 | Debris and open burning | 320 | 32.8 mi |
Top 5 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 Menasha. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Menasha.
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.