In 2025, fire departments serving North Freedom responded to 26 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $100K 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 88% of all calls.
Apr peaks. Jan dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
81 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $489K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 13 | — | |
| 2022 | 11 | -15.4% | |
| 2023 | 10 | -9.1% | |
| 2024 | 21 | +110.0% | |
| 2025 | 26 | +23.8% |
For the 9 building fires North Freedom departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 29 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 | Undetermined | 5 | 17.2% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 3 | 10.3% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 3 | 10.3% | |
| 4 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 2 | 6.9% | |
| 5 | Cell, test | 2 | 6.9% | |
| 6 | Vehicle area, other | 2 | 6.9% | |
| 7 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 2 | 6.9% | |
| 8 | Other | 1 | 3.4% | |
| 9 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 1 | 3.4% | |
| 10 | Bathroom, checkroom, lavatory, locker room | 1 | 3.4% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 7 | 24.1% |
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 North Freedom mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 15 | 51.7% | |
| 2 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 4 | 13.8% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 3 | 10.3% | |
| 4 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 2 | 6.9% | |
| 5 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 1 | 3.4% | |
| 6 | Pipe or cigar | 1 | 3.4% | |
| 7 | Backfire from internal combustion engine | 1 | 3.4% | |
| 8 | Other static discharge | 1 | 3.4% | |
| 9 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 1 | 3.4% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by North Freedom departments in 2025. These 1 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. North Freedom sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
9 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 | 2 | |
| 30-39 | 2 | |
| 40-49 | 2 | |
| 50-59 | 1 | |
| 60-69 | 2 | |
| 70-79 | 0 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 9,842 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | Debris and open burning | 3,410 | 42.4 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,400 | 28.2 mi | |
| 2003 | Debris and open burning | 572 | 43.8 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 500 | 34.1 mi | |
| 2003 | Arson/incendiarism | 484 | 34.2 mi | |
| 2003 | Debris and open burning | 384 | 45.8 mi | |
| 2015 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 337 | 41.1 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 300 | 39.9 mi | |
| 2003 | Arson/incendiarism | 290 | 49.2 mi | |
| 2020 | Recreation and ceremony | 234 | 44.1 mi | |
| 2014 | Arson/incendiarism | 180 | 23.2 mi | |
| 2003 | Arson/incendiarism | 170 | 48.0 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 | 53951 | 81 |
Six Wisconsin cities with population within ±25% of North Freedom. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in North Freedom.
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.