In 2025, fire departments serving Waupaca responded to 98 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $25K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 58% of all calls.
Jan peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
535 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2021. $6.3M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 129 | — | |
| 2022 | 95 | -26.4% | |
| 2023 | 85 | -10.5% | |
| 2024 | 128 | +50.6% | |
| 2025 | 98 | -23.4% |
For the 4 building fires Waupaca 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 | Undetermined | 34 | 27.4% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 20 | 16.1% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 6 | 4.8% | |
| 4 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 6 | 4.8% | |
| 5 | Wildland, woods | 6 | 4.8% | |
| 6 | Cooking area, kitchen | 5 | 4.0% | |
| 7 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 4 | 3.2% | |
| 8 | Structural area, other | 4 | 3.2% | |
| 9 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 4 | 3.2% | |
| 10 | Wall surface: exterior | 4 | 3.2% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 31 | 25.0% |
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 Waupaca mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 52 | 41.9% | |
| 2 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 12 | 9.7% | |
| 3 | Heat source: other | 11 | 8.9% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 8 | 6.5% | |
| 5 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 7 | 5.6% | |
| 6 | Hot ember or ash | 7 | 5.6% | |
| 7 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 6 | 4.8% | |
| 8 | Heat, spark from friction | 3 | 2.4% | |
| 9 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 2 | 1.6% | |
| 10 | Lightning | 2 | 1.6% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 14 | 11.3% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Waupaca departments in 2025. These 3 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $25,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $15,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $30 | Grass fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Waupaca sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 10,360 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 | 39.4 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 829 | 46.8 mi | |
| 1998 | Equipment and vehicle use | 630 | 46.6 mi | |
| 2003 | Debris and open burning | 572 | 29.5 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 508 | 49.2 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 400 | 29.8 mi | |
| 2019 | Arson/incendiarism | 385 | 19.0 mi | |
| 2015 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 366 | 23.3 mi | |
| 1999 | Debris and open burning | 320 | 6.1 mi | |
| 2020 | Arson/incendiarism | 320 | 19.0 mi | |
| 1997 | Debris and open burning | 300 | 24.4 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 275 | 20.2 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 Waupaca. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Waupaca.
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.