In 2025, fire departments serving Wautoma responded to 28 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $15K 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 50% of all calls.
Jan peaks. Jun dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
191 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $2.0M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 42 | — | |
| 2022 | 38 | -9.5% | |
| 2023 | 46 | +21.1% | |
| 2024 | 37 | -19.6% | |
| 2025 | 28 | -24.3% |
For the 3 building fires Wautoma departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 94 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 | 20 | 21.3% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 13 | 13.8% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 10 | 10.6% | |
| 4 | Cooking area, kitchen | 7 | 7.4% | |
| 5 | Outside area, other | 7 | 7.4% | |
| 6 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 4 | 4.3% | |
| 7 | Wall surface: exterior | 4 | 4.3% | |
| 8 | Substructure area or space, crawl space | 3 | 3.2% | |
| 9 | Attic: vacant, crawl space above top story, cupola | 3 | 3.2% | |
| 10 | Exterior, exposed surface | 3 | 3.2% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 20 | 21.3% |
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 Wautoma mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 36 | 38.3% | |
| 2 | Hot ember or ash | 15 | 16.0% | |
| 3 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 7 | 7.4% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 5 | 5.3% | |
| 5 | Flying brand, ember, spark | 5 | 5.3% | |
| 6 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 4 | 4.3% | |
| 7 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 4 | 4.3% | |
| 8 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 3 | 3.2% | |
| 9 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 3 | 3.2% | |
| 10 | Heat, spark from friction | 3 | 3.2% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 9 | 9.6% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Wautoma departments in 2025. These 3 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $14,900 | Fire in mobile home used as fixed residence | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $1,500 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $1,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Wautoma sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 13,152 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 | 23.4 mi | |
| 1994 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,015 | 45.3 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 829 | 36.1 mi | |
| 1998 | Equipment and vehicle use | 630 | 36.1 mi | |
| 2006 | Debris and open burning | 612 | 41.8 mi | |
| 2003 | Debris and open burning | 572 | 7.2 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 508 | 44.7 mi | |
| 2003 | Arson/incendiarism | 484 | 36.6 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 400 | 32.2 mi | |
| 2019 | Arson/incendiarism | 385 | 27.5 mi | |
| 2003 | Debris and open burning | 384 | 45.2 mi | |
| 2015 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 366 | 35.0 mi |
Top 1 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
| # | ZIP | 5-yr incidents | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 54982 | 191 |
Six Wisconsin cities with population within ±25% of Wautoma. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Wautoma.
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.