In 2025, fire departments serving Wittenberg responded to 19 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $200K 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 74% of all calls.
Apr peaks. Jan dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
86 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $1.4M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 10 | — | |
| 2022 | 11 | — | |
| 2023 | 23 | +109.1% | |
| 2024 | 23 | +0.0% | |
| 2025 | 19 | -17.4% |
* Well below Wittenberg'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 Wittenberg departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 35 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 | Vehicle area, other | 6 | 17.1% | |
| 2 | Cargo/trunk area - all vehicles | 4 | 11.4% | |
| 3 | Undetermined | 4 | 11.4% | |
| 4 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 3 | 8.6% | |
| 5 | Other | 2 | 5.7% | |
| 6 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 2 | 5.7% | |
| 7 | Wall surface: exterior | 2 | 5.7% | |
| 8 | Fuel tank, fuel line | 2 | 5.7% | |
| 9 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 10 | Processing/manufacturing area, workroom | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 8 | 22.9% |
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 Wittenberg mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 15 | 42.9% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 5 | 14.3% | |
| 3 | Heat source: other | 3 | 8.6% | |
| 4 | Hot ember or ash | 3 | 8.6% | |
| 5 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 2 | 5.7% | |
| 6 | Arcing | 2 | 5.7% | |
| 7 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 8 | Heat, spark from friction | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 9 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 10 | Chemical reaction | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 1 | 2.9% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Wittenberg departments in 2025. These 1 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $200,000 | Fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Wittenberg sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 3,870 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | Arson/incendiarism | 385 | 48.5 mi | |
| 2015 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 366 | 48.6 mi | |
| 1999 | Debris and open burning | 320 | 39.2 mi | |
| 2020 | Arson/incendiarism | 320 | 48.5 mi | |
| 1997 | Debris and open burning | 300 | 38.6 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 275 | 49.9 mi | |
| 1996 | Smoking | 187 | 36.0 mi | |
| 2000 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 170 | 44.6 mi | |
| 2008 | Arson/incendiarism | 153 | 35.1 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 133 | 32.8 mi | |
| 2014 | Natural | 110 | 46.1 mi | |
| 2004 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 109 | 35.9 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 | 54499 | 86 |
Six Wisconsin cities with population within ±25% of Wittenberg. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Wittenberg.
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.