In 2025, fire departments serving West Allis responded to 336 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $75K 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 60% of all calls.
Aug peaks. Oct dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
1,434 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $4.3M cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 291 | — | |
| 2022 | 306 | +5.2% | |
| 2023 | 270 | -11.8% | |
| 2024 | 231 | -14.4% | |
| 2025 | 336 | +45.5% |
For the 36 building fires West Allis departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 325 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 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 47 | 14.5% | |
| 2 | Cooking area, kitchen | 36 | 11.1% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 35 | 10.8% | |
| 4 | Undetermined | 31 | 9.5% | |
| 5 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 19 | 5.8% | |
| 6 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 18 | 5.5% | |
| 7 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 13 | 4.0% | |
| 8 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 10 | 3.1% | |
| 9 | Vehicle area, other | 9 | 2.8% | |
| 10 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 8 | 2.5% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 99 | 30.5% |
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 West Allis mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 188 | 57.8% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 26 | 8.0% | |
| 3 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 18 | 5.5% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 15 | 4.6% | |
| 5 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 15 | 4.6% | |
| 6 | Cigarette | 14 | 4.3% | |
| 7 | Hot ember or ash | 11 | 3.4% | |
| 8 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 6 | 1.8% | |
| 9 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 6 | 1.8% | |
| 10 | Candle | 5 | 1.5% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 21 | 6.5% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by West Allis departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 72% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $75,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $62,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $62,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $60,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $46,500 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $45,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. West Allis sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
12 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 | 1 | |
| 10-19 | 1 | |
| 20-29 | 1 | |
| 30-39 | 2 | |
| 40-49 | 2 | |
| 50-59 | 2 | |
| 60-69 | 2 | |
| 70-79 | 1 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 6,071 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 | 44.1 mi | |
| 2015 | Misuse of fire by a minor | 750 | 43.5 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 450 | 43.1 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 364 | 48.9 mi | |
| 2002 | Natural | 360 | 43.7 mi | |
| 2002 | Arson/incendiarism | 325 | 48.6 mi | |
| 2003 | Arson/incendiarism | 290 | 48.5 mi | |
| 2005 | Debris and open burning | 280 | 46.4 mi | |
| 2012 | Arson/incendiarism | 254 | 44.6 mi | |
| 2018 | Debris and open burning | 252 | 36.9 mi | |
| 2003 | Debris and open burning | 250 | 45.9 mi | |
| 2010 | Natural | 200 | 10.1 mi |
Top 10 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 West Allis. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
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.