In 2025, fire departments serving Alden responded to 13 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $5K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Grass fire lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 85% of all calls.
Jan peaks. Feb dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
67 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $650K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 13 | — | |
| 2022* | 8 | — | |
| 2023 | 23 | — | |
| 2024 | 10 | -56.5% | |
| 2025 | 13 | +30.0% |
* Well below Alden'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 0 building fires Alden departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 24 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 | 4 | 16.7% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 4 | 16.7% | |
| 3 | Other | 2 | 8.3% | |
| 4 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 2 | 8.3% | |
| 5 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 2 | 8.3% | |
| 6 | Vehicle area, other | 2 | 8.3% | |
| 7 | Cooking area, kitchen | 1 | 4.2% | |
| 8 | Technical processing areas, other | 1 | 4.2% | |
| 9 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 1 | 4.2% | |
| 10 | Attic: vacant, crawl space above top story, cupola | 1 | 4.2% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 4 | 16.7% |
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 Alden mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Heat, spark from friction | 6 | 25.0% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 5 | 20.8% | |
| 3 | Hot ember or ash | 3 | 12.5% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 2 | 8.3% | |
| 5 | Cigarette lighter | 2 | 8.3% | |
| 6 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 4.2% | |
| 7 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 1 | 4.2% | |
| 8 | Arcing | 1 | 4.2% | |
| 9 | Explosive, fireworks, other | 1 | 4.2% | |
| 10 | Match | 1 | 4.2% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 1 | 4.2% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Alden departments in 2025. These 1 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $5,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Alden sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 5,166 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 | 40.6 mi | |
| 2012 | Debris and open burning | 400 | 46.2 mi | |
| 1996 | Arson/incendiarism | 290 | 49.1 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 225 | 47.4 mi | |
| 2012 | Debris and open burning | 200 | 15.1 mi | |
| 2000 | Debris and open burning | 177 | 8.7 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 150 | 48.8 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 120 | 24.3 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 80 | 40.5 mi | |
| 2004 | Arson/incendiarism | 60 | 47.5 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 55 | 26.7 mi | |
| 2007 | Debris and open burning | 50 | 44.3 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 | 56009 | 67 |
Six Minnesota cities with population within ±25% of Alden. 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.