In 2025, fire departments serving Rochester responded to 30 fire and hazmat incidents . 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. Aug dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
131 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2021. $300K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 32 | — | |
| 2022 | 16 | -50.0% | |
| 2023 | 21 | +31.2% | |
| 2024 | 32 | +52.4% | |
| 2025 | 30 | -6.2% |
For the 7 building fires Rochester departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 15 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 | 3 | 20.0% | |
| 2 | Cooking area, kitchen | 2 | 13.3% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 2 | 13.3% | |
| 4 | Outside area, other | 2 | 13.3% | |
| 5 | Other | 1 | 6.7% | |
| 6 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 1 | 6.7% | |
| 7 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 1 | 6.7% | |
| 8 | Maintenance shop or area, paint shop or area | 1 | 6.7% | |
| 9 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 1 | 6.7% | |
| 10 | Wildland, woods | 1 | 6.7% |
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 Rochester mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 5 | 33.3% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 4 | 26.7% | |
| 3 | Heat source: other | 2 | 13.3% | |
| 4 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 1 | 6.7% | |
| 5 | Arcing | 1 | 6.7% | |
| 6 | Chemical reaction | 1 | 6.7% | |
| 7 | Radiated heat from another fire | 1 | 6.7% |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Rochester sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 4,570 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,100 | 46.4 mi | |
| 2015 | Misuse of fire by a minor | 750 | 32.4 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 450 | 31.4 mi | |
| 2003 | Arson/incendiarism | 290 | 47.4 mi | |
| 2012 | Arson/incendiarism | 254 | 39.0 mi | |
| 2018 | Debris and open burning | 252 | 32.2 mi | |
| 2010 | Natural | 200 | 11.8 mi | |
| 2010 | Natural | 180 | 11.3 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 139 | 46.8 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 100 | 33.9 mi | |
| 2006 | Smoking | 81 | 46.4 mi | |
| 2010 | Equipment and vehicle use | 80 | 7.7 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 Rochester. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Rochester.
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.