In 2025, fire departments serving Mount Horeb responded to 46 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $5K 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 76% of all calls.
Jan peaks. Nov dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
193 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $481K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 34 | — | |
| 2022 | 37 | +8.8% | |
| 2023 | 38 | +2.7% | |
| 2024 | 38 | +0.0% | |
| 2025 | 46 | +21.1% |
For the 9 building fires Mount Horeb departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 25 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 | 5 | 20.0% | |
| 2 | Wall surface: exterior | 3 | 12.0% | |
| 3 | Undetermined | 3 | 12.0% | |
| 4 | Cooking area, kitchen | 2 | 8.0% | |
| 5 | Storage room, area, tank, or bin | 2 | 8.0% | |
| 6 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 1 | 4.0% | |
| 7 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 1 | 4.0% | |
| 8 | Bathroom, checkroom, lavatory, locker room | 1 | 4.0% | |
| 9 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 1 | 4.0% | |
| 10 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 1 | 4.0% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 5 | 20.0% |
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 Mount Horeb mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 9 | 36.0% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 8 | 32.0% | |
| 3 | Hot ember or ash | 3 | 12.0% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 2 | 8.0% | |
| 5 | Candle | 1 | 4.0% | |
| 6 | Chemical reaction | 1 | 4.0% | |
| 7 | Lightning | 1 | 4.0% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Mount Horeb departments in 2025. These 4 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $5,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $4,000 | Dumpster or other outside trash receptacle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $700 | Cooking fire, confined to container | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $50 | Outside rubbish, trash or waste fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Mount Horeb sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 8,743 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 | 31.1 mi | |
| 2000 | Equipment and vehicle use | 1,100 | 27.8 mi | |
| 2003 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,100 | 48.0 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 617 | 23.5 mi | |
| 1999 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 580 | 28.5 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 500 | 40.5 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 500 | 21.9 mi | |
| 2003 | Arson/incendiarism | 484 | 46.1 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 300 | 47.6 mi | |
| 2003 | Arson/incendiarism | 290 | 40.8 mi | |
| 2012 | Arson/incendiarism | 254 | 41.5 mi | |
| 2014 | Arson/incendiarism | 180 | 39.1 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 Mount Horeb. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Mount Horeb.
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.