In 2025, fire departments serving Vernon responded to 35 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $25K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 63% of all calls.
Apr peaks. Feb dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
119 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2021. $319K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 38 | — | |
| 2022* | 11 | — | |
| 2023 | 21 | — | |
| 2024* | 14 | — | |
| 2025 | 35 | — |
* Well below Vernon'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 Vernon departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 29 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 | 5 | 17.2% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 5 | 17.2% | |
| 3 | Undetermined | 4 | 13.8% | |
| 4 | Outside area, other | 3 | 10.3% | |
| 5 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 3 | 10.3% | |
| 6 | Function area, other | 2 | 6.9% | |
| 7 | Wildland, woods | 2 | 6.9% | |
| 8 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 1 | 3.4% | |
| 9 | Duct: hvac, cable, exhaust, heating, or AC | 1 | 3.4% | |
| 10 | Attic: vacant, crawl space above top story, cupola | 1 | 3.4% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 2 | 6.9% |
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 Vernon mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 10 | 34.5% | |
| 2 | Hot ember or ash | 5 | 17.2% | |
| 3 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 3 | 10.3% | |
| 4 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 2 | 6.9% | |
| 5 | Arcing | 2 | 6.9% | |
| 6 | Match | 2 | 6.9% | |
| 7 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 2 | 6.9% | |
| 8 | Heat source: other | 1 | 3.4% | |
| 9 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 1 | 3.4% | |
| 10 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 1 | 3.4% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Vernon departments in 2025. These 4 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $25,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $13,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $5,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $4,000 | Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Vernon sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 5,762 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,100 | 39.0 mi | |
| 2015 | Misuse of fire by a minor | 750 | 40.4 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 450 | 39.7 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 364 | 49.6 mi | |
| 2002 | Natural | 360 | 44.6 mi | |
| 2003 | Arson/incendiarism | 290 | 41.4 mi | |
| 2005 | Debris and open burning | 280 | 47.4 mi | |
| 2012 | Arson/incendiarism | 254 | 34.8 mi | |
| 2018 | Debris and open burning | 252 | 27.3 mi | |
| 2003 | Debris and open burning | 250 | 47.9 mi | |
| 2010 | Natural | 200 | 5.9 mi | |
| 2010 | Natural | 180 | 5.8 mi |
Top 6 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 Vernon. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Vernon.
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.