In 2025, fire departments serving Sturgeon Bay responded to 151 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $75K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Building fires lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 54% of all calls.
Jun peaks. Sep dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
880 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $21.4M cumulative property loss. 3 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 168 | — | |
| 2022 | 193 | +14.9% | |
| 2023 | 188 | -2.6% | |
| 2024 | 180 | -4.3% | |
| 2025 | 151 | -16.1% |
For the 30 building fires Sturgeon Bay departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 211 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 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 28 | 13.3% | |
| 2 | Cooking area, kitchen | 26 | 12.3% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 21 | 10.0% | |
| 4 | Undetermined | 21 | 10.0% | |
| 5 | Outside area, other | 19 | 9.0% | |
| 6 | Wildland, woods | 11 | 5.2% | |
| 7 | Conduit, pipe, utility, or ventilation shaft | 6 | 2.8% | |
| 8 | Cargo/trunk area - all vehicles | 6 | 2.8% | |
| 9 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 5 | 2.4% | |
| 10 | Substructure area or space, crawl space | 5 | 2.4% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 63 | 29.9% |
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 Sturgeon Bay mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 74 | 35.1% | |
| 2 | Hot ember or ash | 27 | 12.8% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 16 | 7.6% | |
| 4 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 16 | 7.6% | |
| 5 | Arcing | 16 | 7.6% | |
| 6 | Match | 12 | 5.7% | |
| 7 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 8 | 3.8% | |
| 8 | Cigarette lighter | 5 | 2.4% | |
| 9 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 5 | 2.4% | |
| 10 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 4 | 1.9% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 28 | 13.3% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Sturgeon Bay departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 91% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $75,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $60,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $40,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $25,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $20,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $12,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $10,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $7,500 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Sturgeon Bay sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
5 fire-related casualties recorded in NFIRS Module 11 across the 2021–2025 window. Age, gender, and severity are coarse-binned — no individual identification possible.
| Age | Count | |
|---|---|---|
| 0-9 | 0 | |
| 10-19 | 0 | |
| 20-29 | 1 | |
| 30-39 | 1 | |
| 40-49 | 0 | |
| 50-59 | 2 | |
| 60-69 | 1 | |
| 70-79 | 0 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 1,349 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | Arson/incendiarism | 275 | 17.0 mi | |
| 2004 | Debris and open burning | 215 | 25.1 mi | |
| 1998 | Debris and open burning | 88 | 24.2 mi | |
| 1994 | Debris and open burning | 58 | 48.2 mi | |
| 2007 | Recreation and ceremony | 53 | 45.6 mi | |
| 1994 | Equipment and vehicle use | 53 | 28.2 mi | |
| 1996 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 43 | 40.1 mi | |
| 2013 | Other causes | 42 | 47.8 mi | |
| 2007 | Arson/incendiarism | 41 | 28.5 mi | |
| 1995 | Natural | 40 | 47.0 mi | |
| 2003 | Equipment and vehicle use | 39 | 31.6 mi | |
| 2003 | Arson/incendiarism | 36 | 34.6 mi |
Top 4 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 Sturgeon Bay. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
2 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Sturgeon Bay.
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.