In 2025, fire departments serving River Falls responded to 86 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $390K 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 63% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Jan dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
376 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $2.1M cumulative property loss. 2 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 64 | — | |
| 2022 | 81 | +26.6% | |
| 2023 | 74 | -8.6% | |
| 2024 | 71 | -4.1% | |
| 2025 | 86 | +21.1% |
For the 21 building fires River Falls departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 126 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 | 23 | 18.3% | |
| 2 | Cooking area, kitchen | 15 | 11.9% | |
| 3 | Undetermined | 12 | 9.5% | |
| 4 | Outside area, other | 11 | 8.7% | |
| 5 | Wall surface: exterior | 7 | 5.6% | |
| 6 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 6 | 4.8% | |
| 7 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 5 | 4.0% | |
| 8 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 4 | 3.2% | |
| 9 | Wall assembly | 4 | 3.2% | |
| 10 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 3 | 2.4% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 36 | 28.6% |
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 River Falls mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 40 | 31.7% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 15 | 11.9% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 12 | 9.5% | |
| 4 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 11 | 8.7% | |
| 5 | Heat source: other | 8 | 6.3% | |
| 6 | Hot ember or ash | 7 | 5.6% | |
| 7 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 5 | 4.0% | |
| 8 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 4 | 3.2% | |
| 9 | Cigarette | 3 | 2.4% | |
| 10 | Lightning | 3 | 2.4% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 18 | 14.3% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by River Falls departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 97% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $390,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $35,000 | Fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $25,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $20,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $20,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $10,000 | Fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. River Falls sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
8 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 | 1 | |
| 10-19 | 0 | |
| 20-29 | 2 | |
| 30-39 | 0 | |
| 40-49 | 2 | |
| 50-59 | 1 | |
| 60-69 | 1 | |
| 70-79 | 1 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 16,568 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | Debris and open burning | 8,513 | 39.8 mi | |
| 2009 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,550 | 37.9 mi | |
| 2004 | Recreation and ceremony | 1,000 | 29.5 mi | |
| 2000 | Smoking | 420 | 44.9 mi | |
| 2009 | Fireworks | 390 | 42.3 mi | |
| 2010 | Equipment and vehicle use | 336 | 43.7 mi | |
| 1999 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 306 | 43.0 mi | |
| 2005 | Debris and open burning | 260 | 11.8 mi | |
| 2004 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 250 | 35.0 mi | |
| 2007 | Recreation and ceremony | 248 | 39.8 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 217 | 35.3 mi | |
| 1995 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 200 | 31.9 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 River Falls. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in River Falls.
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.