In 2025, fire departments serving Alexandria responded to 67 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $1.6M building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 78% of all calls.
Oct peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
298 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $7.5M cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 58 | — | |
| 2022 | 66 | +13.8% | |
| 2023* | 20 | — | |
| 2024 | 87 | — | |
| 2025 | 67 | -23.0% |
* Well below Alexandria'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 9 building fires Alexandria departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 145 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 | 27 | 18.6% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 20 | 13.8% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 15 | 10.3% | |
| 4 | Courtyard, patio, porch, terrace | 9 | 6.2% | |
| 5 | Cooking area, kitchen | 8 | 5.5% | |
| 6 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 7 | 4.8% | |
| 7 | Function area, other | 5 | 3.4% | |
| 8 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 5 | 3.4% | |
| 9 | Substructure area or space, crawl space | 4 | 2.8% | |
| 10 | Vehicle area, other | 4 | 2.8% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 41 | 28.3% |
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 Alexandria mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 55 | 37.9% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 20 | 13.8% | |
| 3 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 12 | 8.3% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 10 | 6.9% | |
| 5 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 10 | 6.9% | |
| 6 | Hot ember or ash | 8 | 5.5% | |
| 7 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 5 | 3.4% | |
| 8 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 4 | 2.8% | |
| 9 | Fireworks | 4 | 2.8% | |
| 10 | Cigarette | 3 | 2.1% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 14 | 9.7% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Alexandria departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $1,600,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $625,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 3 | $250,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 4 | $231,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $30,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $5,000 | Fuel burner/boiler malfunction, fire confined | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $3,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Alexandria sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 10,356 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | Equipment and vehicle use | 1,725 | 38.2 mi | |
| 2000 | Debris and open burning | 847 | 35.7 mi | |
| 1992 | Debris and open burning | 620 | 37.0 mi | |
| 2003 | Equipment and vehicle use | 470 | 25.4 mi | |
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 440 | 32.9 mi | |
| 2013 | Recreation and ceremony | 430 | 45.9 mi | |
| 1992 | Debris and open burning | 404 | 27.9 mi | |
| 1992 | Debris and open burning | 360 | 32.8 mi | |
| 2003 | Arson/incendiarism | 360 | 49.7 mi | |
| 1992 | Debris and open burning | 357 | 43.9 mi | |
| 2003 | Debris and open burning | 332 | 44.0 mi | |
| 2006 | Recreation and ceremony | 326 | 17.4 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 | 56308 | 298 |
Six Minnesota cities with population within ±25% of Alexandria. 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.