In 2025, fire departments serving New Berlin responded to 32 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $450K 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 72% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Apr dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
123 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $2.7M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 17 | — | |
| 2022 | 28 | +64.7% | |
| 2023 | 37 | +32.1% | |
| 2024* | 9 | — | |
| 2025 | 32 | — |
* Well below New Berlin'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 New Berlin departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 43 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 | 9 | 20.9% | |
| 2 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 8 | 18.6% | |
| 3 | Undetermined | 6 | 14.0% | |
| 4 | Structural area, other | 2 | 4.7% | |
| 5 | Substructure area or space, crawl space | 2 | 4.7% | |
| 6 | Exterior, exposed surface | 2 | 4.7% | |
| 7 | Outside area, other | 2 | 4.7% | |
| 8 | Wildland, woods | 2 | 4.7% | |
| 9 | Multiple areas | 2 | 4.7% | |
| 10 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 1 | 2.3% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 7 | 16.3% |
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 New Berlin mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 16 | 37.2% | |
| 2 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 6 | 14.0% | |
| 3 | Heat source: other | 3 | 7.0% | |
| 4 | Heat, spark from friction | 3 | 7.0% | |
| 5 | Hot ember or ash | 3 | 7.0% | |
| 6 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 2 | 4.7% | |
| 7 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 2 | 4.7% | |
| 8 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 1 | 2.3% | |
| 9 | Arcing | 1 | 2.3% | |
| 10 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 1 | 2.3% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 5 | 11.6% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by New Berlin departments in 2025. These 2 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $450,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $350,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. New Berlin sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 1,844 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 375 | 45.6 mi | |
| 1999 | Debris and open burning | 250 | 43.3 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 200 | 23.5 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 140 | 50.0 mi | |
| 2007 | Equipment and vehicle use | 80 | 49.4 mi | |
| 2018 | Equipment and vehicle use | 80 | 40.3 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 75 | 37.4 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 75 | 22.6 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 60 | 15.1 mi | |
| 2011 | Equipment and vehicle use | 55 | 12.4 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 50 | 21.3 mi | |
| 2003 | Debris and open burning | 50 | 45.1 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 | 62670 | 123 |
Six Illinois cities with population within ±25% of New Berlin. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
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.