In 2025, fire departments serving Shell Lake responded to 32 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $20K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Power line down lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 60% of all calls.
May peaks. Jan dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
101 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $774K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 4 | — | |
| 2022* | 8 | — | |
| 2023 | 33 | — | |
| 2024 | 24 | -27.3% | |
| 2025 | 32 | +33.3% |
* Well below Shell Lake'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 4 building fires Shell Lake departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 34 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 | 14 | 41.2% | |
| 2 | Storage area, other | 3 | 8.8% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 3 | 8.8% | |
| 4 | Cooking area, kitchen | 2 | 5.9% | |
| 5 | Structural area, other | 2 | 5.9% | |
| 6 | Other | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 7 | Function area, other | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 8 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 9 | Processing/manufacturing area, workroom | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 10 | Closet | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 5 | 14.7% |
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 Shell Lake mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 20 | 58.8% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 4 | 11.8% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 4 | 11.8% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 2 | 5.9% | |
| 5 | Heat source: other | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 6 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 7 | Hot ember or ash | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 8 | Cigarette | 1 | 2.9% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Shell Lake departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $20,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $20,000 | Fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $15,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $10,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $10,000 | Fire in motor home, camper, recreational vehicle | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $10,000 | Fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $5,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $5,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Shell Lake sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 13,900 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | Equipment and vehicle use | 7,499 | 39.6 mi | |
| 2000 | Debris and open burning | 1,350 | 32.4 mi | |
| 2007 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 1,167 | 49.6 mi | |
| 2013 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 656 | 36.2 mi | |
| 2000 | Debris and open burning | 275 | 48.6 mi | |
| 1998 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 240 | 31.3 mi | |
| 1995 | Arson/incendiarism | 216 | 43.6 mi | |
| 1993 | Debris and open burning | 180 | 49.3 mi | |
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 170 | 37.7 mi | |
| 2000 | Debris and open burning | 170 | 38.2 mi | |
| 2006 | Debris and open burning | 165 | 49.7 mi | |
| 2012 | Debris and open burning | 160 | 43.2 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 Shell Lake. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Shell Lake.
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.