In 2025, fire departments serving Merrill responded to 77 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $55K 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 64% of all calls.
Feb peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
462 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $3.1M cumulative property loss. 2 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 98 | — | |
| 2022 | 102 | +4.1% | |
| 2023 | 84 | -17.6% | |
| 2024 | 101 | +20.2% | |
| 2025 | 77 | -23.8% |
For the 12 building fires Merrill departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 145 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 | 22 | 15.2% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 16 | 11.0% | |
| 3 | Cooking area, kitchen | 12 | 8.3% | |
| 4 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 10 | 6.9% | |
| 5 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 8 | 5.5% | |
| 6 | Storage area, other | 7 | 4.8% | |
| 7 | Wildland, woods | 5 | 3.4% | |
| 8 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 4 | 2.8% | |
| 9 | Storage room, area, tank, or bin | 4 | 2.8% | |
| 10 | Wall surface: exterior | 4 | 2.8% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 53 | 36.6% |
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 Merrill mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 48 | 33.1% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 19 | 13.1% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 13 | 9.0% | |
| 4 | Hot ember or ash | 13 | 9.0% | |
| 5 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 10 | 6.9% | |
| 6 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 6 | 4.1% | |
| 7 | Heat source: other | 5 | 3.4% | |
| 8 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 4 | 2.8% | |
| 9 | Heat, spark from friction | 4 | 2.8% | |
| 10 | Cigarette | 4 | 2.8% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 19 | 13.1% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Merrill departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 92% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $55,000 | Fire in portable building, fixed location | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $30,000 | Camper or recreational vehicle (RV) fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $25,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $20,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $20,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $15,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $10,000 | Camper or recreational vehicle (RV) fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $10,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Merrill 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 | 1 | |
| 20-29 | 1 | |
| 30-39 | 0 | |
| 40-49 | 1 | |
| 50-59 | 0 | |
| 60-69 | 0 | |
| 70-79 | 2 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 1,749 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | Smoking | 187 | 33.7 mi | |
| 2008 | Arson/incendiarism | 153 | 32.6 mi | |
| 2004 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 109 | 44.2 mi | |
| 2000 | Debris and open burning | 98 | 42.7 mi | |
| 2007 | Arson/incendiarism | 94 | 43.9 mi | |
| 2001 | Equipment and vehicle use | 88 | 18.4 mi | |
| 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 82 | 2.4 mi | |
| 1992 | Equipment and vehicle use | 81 | 39.0 mi | |
| 1992 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 77 | 35.0 mi | |
| 1992 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 68 | 35.6 mi | |
| 1992 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 68 | 34.8 mi | |
| 2000 | Equipment and vehicle use | 54 | 45.9 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 | 54452 | 462 |
Six Wisconsin cities with population within ±25% of Merrill. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
2 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Merrill.
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.