In 2025, fire departments serving Somers responded to 120 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $500K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Unauthorized burning lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 64% of all calls.
Oct peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
566 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $3.0M cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 107 | — | |
| 2022 | 93 | -13.1% | |
| 2023 | 127 | +36.6% | |
| 2024 | 119 | -6.3% | |
| 2025 | 120 | +0.8% |
For the 17 building fires Somers departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 124 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 | 46 | 37.1% | |
| 2 | Cooking area, kitchen | 10 | 8.1% | |
| 3 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 8 | 6.5% | |
| 4 | Undetermined | 8 | 6.5% | |
| 5 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 7 | 5.6% | |
| 6 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 6 | 4.8% | |
| 7 | Outside area, other | 6 | 4.8% | |
| 8 | Wall surface: exterior | 4 | 3.2% | |
| 9 | Exterior, exposed surface | 4 | 3.2% | |
| 10 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 3 | 2.4% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 22 | 17.7% |
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 Somers mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 31 | 25.0% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 30 | 24.2% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 13 | 10.5% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 10 | 8.1% | |
| 5 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 8 | 6.5% | |
| 6 | Heat, spark from friction | 8 | 6.5% | |
| 7 | Hot ember or ash | 7 | 5.6% | |
| 8 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 5 | 4.0% | |
| 9 | Cigarette | 4 | 3.2% | |
| 10 | Heat source: other | 1 | 0.8% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 7 | 5.6% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Somers departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 97% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $500,000 | Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $350,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 3 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $50,000 | Fires in structures other than in a building | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $40,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $35,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $35,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Somers sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 2,518 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | Misuse of fire by a minor | 750 | 17.3 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 450 | 17.0 mi | |
| 2010 | Natural | 200 | 20.6 mi | |
| 2010 | Natural | 180 | 20.3 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 100 | 47.4 mi | |
| 2010 | Equipment and vehicle use | 80 | 14.4 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 80 | 25.8 mi | |
| 2020 | Arson/incendiarism | 76 | 21.5 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 60 | 28.3 mi | |
| 2010 | Debris and open burning | 53 | 30.9 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 50 | 13.4 mi | |
| 2012 | Debris and open burning | 49 | 28.5 mi |
Top 7 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 Somers. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Somers.
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.