In 2025, fire departments serving Port Washington responded to 66 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $100K 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 67% of all calls.
Jun peaks. Nov dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
342 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2021. $2.3M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 80 | — | |
| 2022 | 79 | -1.2% | |
| 2023 | 60 | -24.1% | |
| 2024 | 57 | -5.0% | |
| 2025 | 66 | +15.8% |
For the 10 building fires Port Washington departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 94 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 | 18 | 19.1% | |
| 2 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 9 | 9.6% | |
| 3 | Cooking area, kitchen | 8 | 8.5% | |
| 4 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 6 | 6.4% | |
| 5 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 6 | 6.4% | |
| 6 | Undetermined | 4 | 4.3% | |
| 7 | Bathroom, checkroom, lavatory, locker room | 3 | 3.2% | |
| 8 | Processing/manufacturing area, workroom | 3 | 3.2% | |
| 9 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 3 | 3.2% | |
| 10 | Wall surface: exterior | 3 | 3.2% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 31 | 33.0% |
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 Port Washington mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 33 | 35.1% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 19 | 20.2% | |
| 3 | Hot ember or ash | 15 | 16.0% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 7 | 7.4% | |
| 5 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 5 | 5.3% | |
| 6 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 3 | 3.2% | |
| 7 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 2 | 2.1% | |
| 8 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 2 | 2.1% | |
| 9 | Heat, spark from friction | 2 | 2.1% | |
| 10 | Heat source: other | 1 | 1.1% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 5 | 5.3% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Port Washington departments in 2025. These 5 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $7,500 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $2,895 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $1,500 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $1,000 | Camper or recreational vehicle (RV) fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Port Washington sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
6 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 | 2 | |
| 40-49 | 0 | |
| 50-59 | 1 | |
| 60-69 | 0 | |
| 70-79 | 0 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 6,733 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1994 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,015 | 42.5 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 829 | 49.2 mi | |
| 1998 | Equipment and vehicle use | 630 | 49.2 mi | |
| 2006 | Debris and open burning | 612 | 47.2 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 508 | 40.5 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 364 | 41.5 mi | |
| 2002 | Natural | 360 | 37.3 mi | |
| 2002 | Arson/incendiarism | 325 | 38.5 mi | |
| 2005 | Debris and open burning | 280 | 39.0 mi | |
| 2003 | Debris and open burning | 250 | 36.9 mi | |
| 2010 | Natural | 200 | 36.9 mi | |
| 2010 | Natural | 180 | 37.4 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 Port Washington. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Port Washington.
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.