In 2025, fire departments serving Albert Lea responded to 182 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $75K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Unauthorized burning lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 51% of all calls.
Jan peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
1,022 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $2.0M cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 222 | — | |
| 2022 | 240 | +8.1% | |
| 2023 | 209 | -12.9% | |
| 2024 | 169 | -19.1% | |
| 2025 | 182 | +7.7% |
For the 14 building fires Albert Lea departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 200 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 | 46 | 23.0% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 22 | 11.0% | |
| 3 | Cooking area, kitchen | 19 | 9.5% | |
| 4 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 9 | 4.5% | |
| 5 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 9 | 4.5% | |
| 6 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 7 | 3.5% | |
| 7 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 6 | 3.0% | |
| 8 | Wall surface: exterior | 6 | 3.0% | |
| 9 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 6 | 3.0% | |
| 10 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 5 | 2.5% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 65 | 32.5% |
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 Albert Lea mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 70 | 35.0% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 31 | 15.5% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 17 | 8.5% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 15 | 7.5% | |
| 5 | Hot ember or ash | 11 | 5.5% | |
| 6 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 8 | 4.0% | |
| 7 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 7 | 3.5% | |
| 8 | Cigarette lighter | 6 | 3.0% | |
| 9 | Heat source: other | 5 | 2.5% | |
| 10 | Heat, spark from friction | 4 | 2.0% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 26 | 13.0% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Albert Lea departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 89% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $75,000 | Outside equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $61,700 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $30,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $30,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $25,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $20,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $7,500 | Fire in motor home, camper, recreational vehicle | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Albert Lea sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
6 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 | 0 | |
| 10-19 | 0 | |
| 20-29 | 2 | |
| 30-39 | 0 | |
| 40-49 | 2 | |
| 50-59 | 1 | |
| 60-69 | 0 | |
| 70-79 | 1 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 4,409 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,909 | 45.4 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 225 | 48.2 mi | |
| 2012 | Debris and open burning | 200 | 12.1 mi | |
| 2000 | Debris and open burning | 177 | 4.3 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 120 | 17.2 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 80 | 30.4 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 60 | 48.0 mi | |
| 2004 | Arson/incendiarism | 60 | 47.0 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 55 | 37.2 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 50 | 18.3 mi | |
| 2012 | Arson/incendiarism | 50 | 33.9 mi | |
| 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 39 | 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 | 56007 | 1,022 |
Six Minnesota cities with population within ±25% of Albert Lea. 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.