In 2025, fire departments serving Vesper responded to 11 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $40K 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 100% of all calls.
Nov peaks. Jan dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
84 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $114K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 21 | — | |
| 2022 | 25 | +19.0% | |
| 2023 | 15 | -40.0% | |
| 2024 | 12 | -20.0% | |
| 2025 | 11 | -8.3% |
For the 6 building fires Vesper departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 15 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 | Cooking area, kitchen | 3 | 20.0% | |
| 2 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 3 | 20.0% | |
| 3 | Undetermined | 3 | 20.0% | |
| 4 | Equipment or service area, other | 2 | 13.3% | |
| 5 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 2 | 13.3% | |
| 6 | Other | 1 | 6.7% | |
| 7 | Outside area, other | 1 | 6.7% |
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 Vesper mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 5 | 33.3% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 2 | 13.3% | |
| 3 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 2 | 13.3% | |
| 4 | Heat source: other | 1 | 6.7% | |
| 5 | Arcing | 1 | 6.7% | |
| 6 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 1 | 6.7% | |
| 7 | Candle | 1 | 6.7% | |
| 8 | Lightning | 1 | 6.7% | |
| 9 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 1 | 6.7% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Vesper departments in 2025. These 2 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $40,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $1,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Vesper sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 7,653 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | Debris and open burning | 3,410 | 30.3 mi | |
| 2003 | Debris and open burning | 572 | 47.2 mi | |
| 2003 | Debris and open burning | 384 | 30.3 mi | |
| 2015 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 337 | 32.4 mi | |
| 1999 | Debris and open burning | 320 | 46.1 mi | |
| 1997 | Debris and open burning | 300 | 21.9 mi | |
| 2020 | Recreation and ceremony | 234 | 29.4 mi | |
| 1996 | Smoking | 187 | 16.5 mi | |
| 2000 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 170 | 14.8 mi | |
| 1992 | Equipment and vehicle use | 161 | 38.4 mi | |
| 1998 | Arson/incendiarism | 160 | 18.1 mi | |
| 2007 | Recreation and ceremony | 159 | 42.9 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 Vesper. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Vesper.
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.