In 2025, fire departments serving Whitehall responded to 20 fire and hazmat incidents . 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 65% of all calls.
Jan peaks. Apr dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
112 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2021. $820K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 27 | — | |
| 2022 | 22 | -18.5% | |
| 2023 | 19 | -13.6% | |
| 2024 | 24 | +26.3% | |
| 2025 | 20 | -16.7% |
For the 0 building fires Whitehall departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 25 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 | 5 | 20.0% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 4 | 16.0% | |
| 3 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 3 | 12.0% | |
| 4 | Vehicle area, other | 2 | 8.0% | |
| 5 | Undetermined | 2 | 8.0% | |
| 6 | Interior stairway or ramp | 1 | 4.0% | |
| 7 | Storage room, area, tank, or bin | 1 | 4.0% | |
| 8 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 1 | 4.0% | |
| 9 | Heating room or area, water heater area | 1 | 4.0% | |
| 10 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 1 | 4.0% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 4 | 16.0% |
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 Whitehall mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hot ember or ash | 6 | 24.0% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 5 | 20.0% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 4 | 16.0% | |
| 4 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 3 | 12.0% | |
| 5 | Heat from undetermined smoking material | 2 | 8.0% | |
| 6 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 1 | 4.0% | |
| 7 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 1 | 4.0% | |
| 8 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 1 | 4.0% | |
| 9 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 1 | 4.0% | |
| 10 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 1 | 4.0% |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Whitehall sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 4,757 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,200 | 14.9 mi | |
| 1994 | Recreation and ceremony | 553 | 30.9 mi | |
| 2009 | Fireworks | 390 | 40.5 mi | |
| 2000 | Debris and open burning | 360 | 16.3 mi | |
| 1998 | Arson/incendiarism | 295 | 30.1 mi | |
| 1998 | Recreation and ceremony | 250 | 29.1 mi | |
| 2012 | Equipment and vehicle use | 195 | 44.4 mi | |
| 2007 | Recreation and ceremony | 159 | 29.9 mi | |
| 2018 | Debris and open burning | 124 | 23.1 mi | |
| 2018 | Debris and open burning | 122 | 22.4 mi | |
| 2018 | Arson/incendiarism | 104 | 32.4 mi | |
| 2009 | Equipment and vehicle use | 93 | 37.2 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 | 54773 | 112 |
Six Wisconsin cities with population within ±25% of Whitehall. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
2 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Whitehall.
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.