In 2025, fire departments serving Owen responded to 19 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $200K 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 90% of all calls.
Jan peaks. Feb dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
96 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2021. $817K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 29 | — | |
| 2022 | 17 | -41.4% | |
| 2023* | 11 | — | |
| 2024 | 20 | — | |
| 2025 | 19 | -5.0% |
* Well below Owen'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 13 building fires Owen departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 37 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 | 8 | 21.6% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 5 | 13.5% | |
| 3 | Wall surface: exterior | 3 | 8.1% | |
| 4 | Outside area, other | 3 | 8.1% | |
| 5 | Cooking area, kitchen | 2 | 5.4% | |
| 6 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 2 | 5.4% | |
| 7 | Cargo/trunk area - all vehicles | 2 | 5.4% | |
| 8 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 2 | 5.4% | |
| 9 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 2 | 5.4% | |
| 10 | Office | 1 | 2.7% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 7 | 18.9% |
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 Owen mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 12 | 32.4% | |
| 2 | Heat, spark from friction | 5 | 13.5% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 4 | 10.8% | |
| 4 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 3 | 8.1% | |
| 5 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 2 | 5.4% | |
| 6 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 2 | 5.4% | |
| 7 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 2 | 5.4% | |
| 8 | Radiated heat from another fire | 2 | 5.4% | |
| 9 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 1 | 2.7% | |
| 10 | Hot ember or ash | 1 | 2.7% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 3 | 8.1% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Owen departments in 2025. These 7 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $200,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $80,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $20,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $20,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $3,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $2,500 | Chimney or flue fire, confined to chimney or flue | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $2,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Owen sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 2,715 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1994 | Recreation and ceremony | 553 | 25.8 mi | |
| 1998 | Recreation and ceremony | 250 | 27.4 mi | |
| 1996 | Smoking | 187 | 37.1 mi | |
| 2008 | Arson/incendiarism | 153 | 37.3 mi | |
| 2018 | Debris and open burning | 122 | 49.7 mi | |
| 2003 | Recreation and ceremony | 113 | 11.2 mi | |
| 2004 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 109 | 47.5 mi | |
| 2018 | Arson/incendiarism | 104 | 23.9 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 101 | 49.9 mi | |
| 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 89 | 36.4 mi | |
| 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 82 | 43.1 mi | |
| 1992 | Equipment and vehicle use | 81 | 43.9 mi |
Top 2 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 Owen. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Owen.
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.