In 2025, fire departments serving Monticello responded to 22 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $50K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Grass fire lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 86% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Jan dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
103 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $205K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 27 | — | |
| 2022 | 14 | -48.1% | |
| 2023* | 11 | — | |
| 2024 | 29 | — | |
| 2025 | 22 | -24.1% |
* Well below Monticello'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 7 building fires Monticello departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 41 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 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 20 | 48.8% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 6 | 14.6% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 3 | 7.3% | |
| 4 | Cooking area, kitchen | 2 | 4.9% | |
| 5 | Cargo/trunk area - all vehicles | 2 | 4.9% | |
| 6 | Wildland, woods | 2 | 4.9% | |
| 7 | Function area, other | 1 | 2.4% | |
| 8 | Storage area, other | 1 | 2.4% | |
| 9 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 1 | 2.4% | |
| 10 | Attic: vacant, crawl space above top story, cupola | 1 | 2.4% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 2 | 4.9% |
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 Monticello mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Flying brand, ember, spark | 8 | 19.5% | |
| 2 | Hot ember or ash | 6 | 14.6% | |
| 3 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 5 | 12.2% | |
| 4 | Undetermined | 5 | 12.2% | |
| 5 | Heat source: other | 4 | 9.8% | |
| 6 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 3 | 7.3% | |
| 7 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 2 | 4.9% | |
| 8 | Arcing | 2 | 4.9% | |
| 9 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 2.4% | |
| 10 | Heat, spark from friction | 1 | 2.4% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 4 | 9.8% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Monticello departments in 2025. These 3 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $35,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $25,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Monticello sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 7,030 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,400 | 47.1 mi | |
| 2000 | Equipment and vehicle use | 1,100 | 14.4 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 617 | 6.2 mi | |
| 1999 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 580 | 14.9 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 500 | 21.6 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 500 | 30.3 mi | |
| 2003 | Arson/incendiarism | 290 | 43.9 mi | |
| 2012 | Arson/incendiarism | 254 | 39.3 mi | |
| 2018 | Debris and open burning | 252 | 45.9 mi | |
| 2004 | Smoking | 169 | 15.2 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 139 | 44.3 mi | |
| 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 130 | 29.1 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 Monticello. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Monticello.
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.