In 2025, fire departments serving Wisconsin Rapids responded to 122 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $118K 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 54% of all calls.
Oct peaks. Feb dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
723 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2021. $2.7M cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 180 | — | |
| 2022 | 136 | -24.4% | |
| 2023 | 153 | +12.5% | |
| 2024 | 132 | -13.7% | |
| 2025 | 122 | -7.6% |
For the 31 building fires Wisconsin Rapids departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 173 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 | 41 | 23.7% | |
| 2 | Cooking area, kitchen | 19 | 11.0% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 14 | 8.1% | |
| 4 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 12 | 6.9% | |
| 5 | Outside area, other | 12 | 6.9% | |
| 6 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 12 | 6.9% | |
| 7 | Wildland, woods | 8 | 4.6% | |
| 8 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 5 | 2.9% | |
| 9 | Other | 4 | 2.3% | |
| 10 | Wall surface: exterior | 4 | 2.3% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 42 | 24.3% |
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 Wisconsin Rapids mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 69 | 39.9% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 18 | 10.4% | |
| 3 | Heat source: other | 14 | 8.1% | |
| 4 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 9 | 5.2% | |
| 5 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 9 | 5.2% | |
| 6 | Match | 9 | 5.2% | |
| 7 | Hot ember or ash | 8 | 4.6% | |
| 8 | Arcing | 7 | 4.0% | |
| 9 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 5 | 2.9% | |
| 10 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 4 | 2.3% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 21 | 12.1% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Wisconsin Rapids departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 97% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $117,900 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $90,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $90,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $80,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $40,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $30,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $15,000 | Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $10,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Wisconsin Rapids sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
5 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 | 2 | |
| 10-19 | 1 | |
| 20-29 | 0 | |
| 30-39 | 1 | |
| 40-49 | 0 | |
| 50-59 | 1 | |
| 60-69 | 0 | |
| 70-79 | 0 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 7,904 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 | 22.7 mi | |
| 2003 | Debris and open burning | 572 | 38.1 mi | |
| 2003 | Debris and open burning | 384 | 28.8 mi | |
| 2015 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 337 | 29.3 mi | |
| 1999 | Debris and open burning | 320 | 37.7 mi | |
| 1997 | Debris and open burning | 300 | 13.2 mi | |
| 2020 | Recreation and ceremony | 234 | 26.6 mi | |
| 1996 | Smoking | 187 | 22.2 mi | |
| 2003 | Arson/incendiarism | 170 | 48.3 mi | |
| 2000 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 170 | 5.6 mi | |
| 1992 | Equipment and vehicle use | 161 | 34.8 mi | |
| 2002 | Debris and open burning | 160 | 48.4 mi |
Top 4 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 Wisconsin Rapids. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
3 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Wisconsin Rapids.
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.