In 2025, fire departments serving Oconto responded to 58 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $400K 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 66% of all calls.
Nov peaks. Jun dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
359 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2021. $3.9M cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 87 | — | |
| 2022 | 67 | -23.0% | |
| 2023 | 73 | +9.0% | |
| 2024 | 74 | +1.4% | |
| 2025 | 58 | -21.6% |
For the 26 building fires Oconto departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 86 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 | 28 | 32.6% | |
| 2 | Substructure area or space, crawl space | 6 | 7.0% | |
| 3 | Wildland, woods | 6 | 7.0% | |
| 4 | Other | 5 | 5.8% | |
| 5 | Cooking area, kitchen | 5 | 5.8% | |
| 6 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 4 | 4.7% | |
| 7 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 3 | 3.5% | |
| 8 | Equipment or service area, other | 2 | 2.3% | |
| 9 | Machinery room or area; elevator machinery room | 2 | 2.3% | |
| 10 | Wall surface: exterior | 2 | 2.3% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 23 | 26.7% |
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 Oconto mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 57 | 66.3% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 7 | 8.1% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 4 | 4.7% | |
| 4 | Hot ember or ash | 4 | 4.7% | |
| 5 | Arcing | 3 | 3.5% | |
| 6 | Heat source: other | 2 | 2.3% | |
| 7 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 2 | 2.3% | |
| 8 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 2 | 2.3% | |
| 9 | Conducted heat from another fire | 2 | 2.3% | |
| 10 | Chemical reaction | 1 | 1.2% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 2 | 2.3% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Oconto departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 97% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $400,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $350,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 3 | $300,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 4 | $300,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 5 | $166,300 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $96,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $32,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $20,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Oconto sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
7 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 | 0 | |
| 30-39 | 1 | |
| 40-49 | 2 | |
| 50-59 | 0 | |
| 60-69 | 1 | |
| 70-79 | 1 | |
| 80+ | 1 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 1,891 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | Arson/incendiarism | 275 | 13.4 mi | |
| 2004 | Debris and open burning | 215 | 1.2 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 133 | 31.5 mi | |
| 2014 | Natural | 110 | 37.8 mi | |
| 2015 | Arson/incendiarism | 103 | 30.1 mi | |
| 1999 | Smoking | 100 | 43.2 mi | |
| 1998 | Debris and open burning | 88 | 40.8 mi | |
| 2005 | Debris and open burning | 75 | 30.1 mi | |
| 2001 | Other causes | 73 | 39.5 mi | |
| 1999 | Recreation and ceremony | 65 | 35.6 mi | |
| 1999 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 64 | 42.5 mi | |
| 1994 | Debris and open burning | 58 | 40.6 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 Oconto. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
2 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Oconto.
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.