In 2025, fire departments serving Oak Creek responded to 180 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $200K 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 57% of all calls.
Aug peaks. Feb dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
868 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $1.5M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 155 | — | |
| 2022 | 115 | -25.8% | |
| 2023 | 227 | +97.4% | |
| 2024 | 191 | -15.9% | |
| 2025 | 180 | -5.8% |
For the 22 building fires Oak Creek departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 253 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 | 52 | 20.6% | |
| 2 | Cooking area, kitchen | 27 | 10.7% | |
| 3 | Undetermined | 25 | 9.9% | |
| 4 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 18 | 7.1% | |
| 5 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 16 | 6.3% | |
| 6 | Outside area, other | 15 | 5.9% | |
| 7 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 7 | 2.8% | |
| 8 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 7 | 2.8% | |
| 9 | Wildland, woods | 7 | 2.8% | |
| 10 | Exterior, exposed surface | 6 | 2.4% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 73 | 28.9% |
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 Oak Creek mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 134 | 53.0% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 21 | 8.3% | |
| 3 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 21 | 8.3% | |
| 4 | Hot ember or ash | 11 | 4.3% | |
| 5 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 10 | 4.0% | |
| 6 | Arcing | 9 | 3.6% | |
| 7 | Cigarette lighter | 6 | 2.4% | |
| 8 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 5 | 2.0% | |
| 9 | Candle | 5 | 2.0% | |
| 10 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 5 | 2.0% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 26 | 10.3% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Oak Creek departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 96% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $200,000 | Outside equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $75,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $6,850 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $5,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $5,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $5,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $5,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Oak Creek sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
10 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 | 2 | |
| 30-39 | 3 | |
| 40-49 | 4 | |
| 50-59 | 0 | |
| 60-69 | 0 | |
| 70-79 | 0 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 2,794 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | Misuse of fire by a minor | 750 | 33.6 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 450 | 33.4 mi | |
| 2018 | Debris and open burning | 252 | 44.4 mi | |
| 2010 | Natural | 200 | 11.7 mi | |
| 2010 | Natural | 180 | 11.9 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 100 | 34.6 mi | |
| 2010 | Equipment and vehicle use | 80 | 21.8 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 80 | 39.6 mi | |
| 2020 | Arson/incendiarism | 76 | 18.2 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 60 | 30.3 mi | |
| 2010 | Debris and open burning | 53 | 28.0 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 50 | 29.7 mi |
Top 8 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 Oak Creek. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Oak Creek.
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.