In 2025, fire departments serving Withee responded to 10 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $37K 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 80% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Apr dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
72 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $603K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 23 | — | |
| 2022* | 7 | — | |
| 2023 | 24 | — | |
| 2024* | 8 | — | |
| 2025 | 10 | — |
* Well below Withee's usual volume. That almost always means one or more departments didn't submit a full year to NFIRS, not that fires dropped, so no year-over-year change is shown for it.
For the 4 building fires Withee departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 29 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 | 7 | 24.1% | |
| 2 | Cooking area, kitchen | 2 | 6.9% | |
| 3 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 2 | 6.9% | |
| 4 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 2 | 6.9% | |
| 5 | Exterior, exposed surface | 2 | 6.9% | |
| 6 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 1 | 3.4% | |
| 7 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 1 | 3.4% | |
| 8 | Processing/manufacturing area, workroom | 1 | 3.4% | |
| 9 | Storage area, other | 1 | 3.4% | |
| 10 | Storage room, area, tank, or bin | 1 | 3.4% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 9 | 31.0% |
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 Withee mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 11 | 37.9% | |
| 2 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 3 | 10.3% | |
| 3 | Heat source: other | 2 | 6.9% | |
| 4 | Hot ember or ash | 2 | 6.9% | |
| 5 | Conducted heat from another fire | 2 | 6.9% | |
| 6 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 3.4% | |
| 7 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 1 | 3.4% | |
| 8 | Arcing | 1 | 3.4% | |
| 9 | Heat, spark from friction | 1 | 3.4% | |
| 10 | Molten, hot material | 1 | 3.4% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 4 | 13.8% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Withee departments in 2025. These 4 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $37,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $8,000 | Fire in motor home, camper, recreational vehicle | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $5,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $2,500 | Water vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Withee sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 2,738 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1994 | Recreation and ceremony | 553 | 24.4 mi | |
| 1998 | Recreation and ceremony | 250 | 26.1 mi | |
| 1996 | Smoking | 187 | 38.8 mi | |
| 2008 | Arson/incendiarism | 153 | 39.0 mi | |
| 2018 | Debris and open burning | 124 | 49.7 mi | |
| 2018 | Debris and open burning | 122 | 48.1 mi | |
| 2003 | Recreation and ceremony | 113 | 10.2 mi | |
| 2004 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 109 | 49.0 mi | |
| 2018 | Arson/incendiarism | 104 | 23.0 mi | |
| 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 89 | 36.0 mi | |
| 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 82 | 44.8 mi | |
| 1992 | Equipment and vehicle use | 81 | 45.5 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 | 54498 | 72 |
Six Wisconsin cities with population within ±25% of Withee. 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.