In 2025, fire departments serving Sauk City responded to 18 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $6K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Incomplete 2025 data. Sauk City's departments reported 18 incidents to NFIRS for 2025, against about 39 in a typical year, so 2025 figures on this page undercount. The 2021–2025 totals are the better guide.
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 56% of all calls.
Jun peaks. Jul dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
196 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $880K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 47 | — | |
| 2022 | 39 | -17.0% | |
| 2023 | 42 | +7.7% | |
| 2024 | 50 | +19.0% | |
| 2025* | 18 | — |
* Well below Sauk City's usual volume. That almost always means one or more departments didn't submit a full year to NFIRS, not that fires dropped, so no year-over-year change is shown for it.
For the 1 building fires Sauk City departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 57 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 | Cooking area, kitchen | 7 | 12.3% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 7 | 12.3% | |
| 3 | Undetermined | 7 | 12.3% | |
| 4 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 5 | 8.8% | |
| 5 | Outside area, other | 4 | 7.0% | |
| 6 | Wildland, woods | 4 | 7.0% | |
| 7 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 3 | 5.3% | |
| 8 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 3 | 5.3% | |
| 9 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 2 | 3.5% | |
| 10 | Duct: hvac, cable, exhaust, heating, or AC | 2 | 3.5% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 13 | 22.8% |
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 Sauk City mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 27 | 47.4% | |
| 2 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 5 | 8.8% | |
| 3 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 4 | 7.0% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 3 | 5.3% | |
| 5 | Heat source: other | 2 | 3.5% | |
| 6 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 2 | 3.5% | |
| 7 | Heat, spark from friction | 2 | 3.5% | |
| 8 | Cigarette | 2 | 3.5% | |
| 9 | Molten, hot material | 1 | 1.8% | |
| 10 | Hot ember or ash | 1 | 1.8% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 8 | 14.0% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Sauk City departments in 2025. These 2 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $6,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $4,500 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Sauk City sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 8,581 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,400 | 28.6 mi | |
| 2000 | Equipment and vehicle use | 1,100 | 41.9 mi | |
| 2003 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,100 | 44.9 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 617 | 41.8 mi | |
| 1999 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 580 | 42.6 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 500 | 21.6 mi | |
| 2003 | Arson/incendiarism | 484 | 33.1 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 300 | 36.8 mi | |
| 2003 | Arson/incendiarism | 290 | 39.3 mi | |
| 2012 | Arson/incendiarism | 254 | 44.8 mi | |
| 2014 | Arson/incendiarism | 180 | 23.7 mi | |
| 2013 | Equipment and vehicle use | 170 | 46.7 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 Sauk City. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Sauk City.
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.