In 2025, fire departments serving Racine responded to 608 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 53% of all calls.
Jul peaks. Feb dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
2,889 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $11.8M cumulative property loss. 5 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 580 | — | |
| 2022 | 529 | -8.8% | |
| 2023 | 533 | +0.8% | |
| 2024 | 639 | +19.9% | |
| 2025 | 608 | -4.9% |
For the 80 building fires Racine departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 664 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 | 93 | 14.0% | |
| 2 | Cooking area, kitchen | 78 | 11.7% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 50 | 7.5% | |
| 4 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 41 | 6.2% | |
| 5 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 32 | 4.8% | |
| 6 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 32 | 4.8% | |
| 7 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 28 | 4.2% | |
| 8 | Wall surface: exterior | 22 | 3.3% | |
| 9 | Undetermined | 22 | 3.3% | |
| 10 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 16 | 2.4% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 250 | 37.7% |
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 Racine mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 228 | 34.3% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 71 | 10.7% | |
| 3 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 61 | 9.2% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 51 | 7.7% | |
| 5 | Hot ember or ash | 37 | 5.6% | |
| 6 | Cigarette | 37 | 5.6% | |
| 7 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 34 | 5.1% | |
| 8 | Cigarette lighter | 22 | 3.3% | |
| 9 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 20 | 3.0% | |
| 10 | Candle | 13 | 2.0% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 90 | 13.6% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Racine departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 39% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $200,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $90,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $85,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $80,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $75,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Racine sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
62 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 | 4 | |
| 10-19 | 1 | |
| 20-29 | 9 | |
| 30-39 | 13 | |
| 40-49 | 11 | |
| 50-59 | 11 | |
| 60-69 | 7 | |
| 70-79 | 5 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 2,518 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 | 22.7 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 450 | 22.6 mi | |
| 2010 | Natural | 200 | 19.3 mi | |
| 2010 | Natural | 180 | 19.2 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 100 | 45.2 mi | |
| 2010 | Equipment and vehicle use | 80 | 19.4 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 80 | 32.9 mi | |
| 2020 | Arson/incendiarism | 76 | 22.7 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 60 | 32.1 mi | |
| 2010 | Debris and open burning | 53 | 32.8 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 50 | 18.9 mi | |
| 2012 | Debris and open burning | 49 | 35.7 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 Racine. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
3 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Racine.
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.