In 2025, fire departments serving Pleasant Prairie responded to 193 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $600K 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 74% of all calls.
Apr peaks. Feb dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
876 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $2.1M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 156 | — | |
| 2022 | 150 | -3.8% | |
| 2023 | 198 | +32.0% | |
| 2024 | 179 | -9.6% | |
| 2025 | 193 | +7.8% |
For the 58 building fires Pleasant Prairie departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 176 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 | 55 | 31.2% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 21 | 11.9% | |
| 3 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 15 | 8.5% | |
| 4 | Cooking area, kitchen | 11 | 6.2% | |
| 5 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 7 | 4.0% | |
| 6 | Outside area, other | 6 | 3.4% | |
| 7 | Wall surface: exterior | 5 | 2.8% | |
| 8 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 5 | 2.8% | |
| 9 | Wildland, woods | 5 | 2.8% | |
| 10 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 4 | 2.3% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 42 | 23.9% |
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 Pleasant Prairie mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 90 | 51.1% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 16 | 9.1% | |
| 3 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 12 | 6.8% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 8 | 4.5% | |
| 5 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 6 | 3.4% | |
| 6 | Chemical reaction | 6 | 3.4% | |
| 7 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 5 | 2.8% | |
| 8 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 5 | 2.8% | |
| 9 | Hot ember or ash | 5 | 2.8% | |
| 10 | Cigarette | 4 | 2.3% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 19 | 10.8% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Pleasant Prairie departments in 2025. These 7 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $600,000 | Fire, other | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $375,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 3 | $125,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $40,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $20,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $15,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $2,700 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Pleasant Prairie 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 | 2 | |
| 30-39 | 1 | |
| 40-49 | 0 | |
| 50-59 | 0 | |
| 60-69 | 1 | |
| 70-79 | 0 | |
| 80+ | 1 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 2,528 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 | 9.8 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 450 | 9.3 mi | |
| 2010 | Natural | 200 | 27.4 mi | |
| 2010 | Natural | 180 | 27.1 mi | |
| 2010 | Equipment and vehicle use | 80 | 16.4 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 80 | 20.5 mi | |
| 2020 | Arson/incendiarism | 76 | 26.7 mi | |
| 2003 | Recreation and ceremony | 75 | 46.0 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 60 | 30.6 mi | |
| 2010 | Debris and open burning | 53 | 35.0 mi | |
| 2014 | Arson/incendiarism | 50 | 45.9 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 50 | 6.2 mi |
Top 5 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 Pleasant Prairie. 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.