In 2025, fire departments serving Rothschild responded to 19 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $1.5M building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Fire, other lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 53% of all calls.
Jun peaks. Nov dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
107 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $3.3M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 22 | — | |
| 2022 | 19 | -13.6% | |
| 2023 | 31 | +63.2% | |
| 2024 | 16 | -48.4% | |
| 2025 | 19 | +18.8% |
For the 2 building fires Rothschild departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 50 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 | 9 | 18.0% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 6 | 12.0% | |
| 3 | Cooking area, kitchen | 3 | 6.0% | |
| 4 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 3 | 6.0% | |
| 5 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 3 | 6.0% | |
| 6 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 2 | 4.0% | |
| 7 | Processing/manufacturing area, workroom | 2 | 4.0% | |
| 8 | Equipment or service area, other | 2 | 4.0% | |
| 9 | Ceiling & floor assembly, crawl space b/t stories | 2 | 4.0% | |
| 10 | Wall assembly | 2 | 4.0% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 16 | 32.0% |
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 Rothschild mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 12 | 24.0% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 9 | 18.0% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 4 | 8.0% | |
| 4 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 4 | 8.0% | |
| 5 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 3 | 6.0% | |
| 6 | Chemical reaction | 3 | 6.0% | |
| 7 | Heat source: other | 2 | 4.0% | |
| 8 | Hot ember or ash | 2 | 4.0% | |
| 9 | Cigarette | 2 | 4.0% | |
| 10 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 1 | 2.0% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 8 | 16.0% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Rothschild departments in 2025. These 2 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $1,500,000 | Fires in structures other than in a building | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $16,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Rothschild sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 2,686 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | Debris and open burning | 320 | 49.8 mi | |
| 1997 | Debris and open burning | 300 | 36.7 mi | |
| 1996 | Smoking | 187 | 17.3 mi | |
| 2000 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 170 | 38.1 mi | |
| 1998 | Arson/incendiarism | 160 | 45.3 mi | |
| 2008 | Arson/incendiarism | 153 | 16.1 mi | |
| 2004 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 109 | 24.2 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 101 | 32.3 mi | |
| 2007 | Arson/incendiarism | 94 | 48.5 mi | |
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 91 | 43.6 mi | |
| 2001 | Equipment and vehicle use | 88 | 19.4 mi | |
| 2000 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 82 | 34.9 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 Rothschild. 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.