In 2025, fire departments serving Menomonie responded to 148 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $800K 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 66% of all calls.
Dec peaks. Apr dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
686 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $8.4M cumulative property loss. 3 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 133 | — | |
| 2022 | 126 | -5.3% | |
| 2023 | 147 | +16.7% | |
| 2024 | 132 | -10.2% | |
| 2025 | 148 | +12.1% |
For the 30 building fires Menomonie departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 192 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 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 46 | 24.0% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 20 | 10.4% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 14 | 7.3% | |
| 4 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 10 | 5.2% | |
| 5 | Vehicle area, other | 9 | 4.7% | |
| 6 | Cooking area, kitchen | 8 | 4.2% | |
| 7 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 8 | 4.2% | |
| 8 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 7 | 3.6% | |
| 9 | Processing/manufacturing area, workroom | 5 | 2.6% | |
| 10 | Heating room or area, water heater area | 5 | 2.6% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 60 | 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 Menomonie mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 86 | 44.8% | |
| 2 | Heat source: other | 18 | 9.4% | |
| 3 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 18 | 9.4% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 11 | 5.7% | |
| 5 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 11 | 5.7% | |
| 6 | Arcing | 8 | 4.2% | |
| 7 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 6 | 3.1% | |
| 8 | Hot ember or ash | 4 | 2.1% | |
| 9 | Cigarette | 4 | 2.1% | |
| 10 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 3 | 1.6% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 23 | 12.0% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Menomonie departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 76% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $800,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $250,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Major | Investigated |
| 3 | $200,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $200,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $150,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $130,000 | Fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Menomonie sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
5 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 | 1 | |
| 30-39 | 0 | |
| 40-49 | 1 | |
| 50-59 | 0 | |
| 60-69 | 1 | |
| 70-79 | 2 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 3,169 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1994 | Recreation and ceremony | 553 | 46.3 mi | |
| 2009 | Fireworks | 390 | 7.4 mi | |
| 1998 | Arson/incendiarism | 295 | 43.4 mi | |
| 2005 | Debris and open burning | 260 | 36.0 mi | |
| 1998 | Recreation and ceremony | 250 | 45.7 mi | |
| 2003 | Debris and open burning | 148 | 9.9 mi | |
| 1998 | Arson/incendiarism | 140 | 42.3 mi | |
| 2018 | Debris and open burning | 124 | 24.2 mi | |
| 2012 | Debris and open burning | 123 | 30.1 mi | |
| 2018 | Debris and open burning | 122 | 25.6 mi | |
| 2000 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 83 | 35.9 mi | |
| 1993 | Arson/incendiarism | 83 | 43.5 mi |
Top 3 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 Menomonie. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Menomonie.
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.