In 2025, fire departments serving Star Prairie responded to 15 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $150K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Grass fire lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 87% of all calls.
May peaks. Jan dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
76 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $341K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 6 | — | |
| 2022 | 16 | — | |
| 2023 | 24 | +50.0% | |
| 2024 | 15 | -37.5% | |
| 2025 | 15 | +0.0% |
* Well below Star Prairie'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 3 building fires Star Prairie departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 19 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 | Other | 7 | 36.8% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 5 | 26.3% | |
| 3 | Corridor, mall | 1 | 5.3% | |
| 4 | Egress/exit, other | 1 | 5.3% | |
| 5 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 1 | 5.3% | |
| 6 | Cooking area, kitchen | 1 | 5.3% | |
| 7 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 1 | 5.3% | |
| 8 | Heating room or area, water heater area | 1 | 5.3% | |
| 9 | Wall surface: exterior | 1 | 5.3% |
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 Star Prairie mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Heat source: other | 4 | 21.1% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 4 | 21.1% | |
| 3 | Undetermined | 4 | 21.1% | |
| 4 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 2 | 10.5% | |
| 5 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 5.3% | |
| 6 | Heat, spark from friction | 1 | 5.3% | |
| 7 | Hot ember or ash | 1 | 5.3% | |
| 8 | Cigarette | 1 | 5.3% | |
| 9 | Cigarette lighter | 1 | 5.3% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Star Prairie departments in 2025. These 3 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $150,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $100 | Dumpster or other outside trash receptacle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Star Prairie sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 17,103 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | Debris and open burning | 8,513 | 30.2 mi | |
| 2009 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,550 | 29.0 mi | |
| 2004 | Recreation and ceremony | 1,000 | 42.5 mi | |
| 2013 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 656 | 46.0 mi | |
| 2000 | Smoking | 420 | 33.4 mi | |
| 2009 | Fireworks | 390 | 44.2 mi | |
| 2010 | Equipment and vehicle use | 336 | 36.9 mi | |
| 1999 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 306 | 37.3 mi | |
| 2005 | Debris and open burning | 260 | 12.1 mi | |
| 2004 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 250 | 33.0 mi | |
| 2007 | Recreation and ceremony | 248 | 28.3 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 217 | 32.7 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 Star Prairie. 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.