In 2025, fire departments serving Baxter responded to 31 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $9K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Vehicle accident, general cleanup lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 68% of all calls.
Jan peaks. Aug dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
95 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $588K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 6 | — | |
| 2022* | 4 | — | |
| 2023 | 21 | — | |
| 2024 | 33 | +57.1% | |
| 2025 | 31 | -6.1% |
* Well below Baxter'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 1 building fires Baxter 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 | Undetermined | 13 | 37.1% | |
| 2 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 4 | 11.4% | |
| 3 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 3 | 8.6% | |
| 4 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 3 | 8.6% | |
| 5 | Vehicle area, other | 2 | 5.7% | |
| 6 | Outside area, other | 2 | 5.7% | |
| 7 | Function area, other | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 8 | Cooking area, kitchen | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 9 | Service facilities, other | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 10 | Machinery room or area; elevator machinery room | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 4 | 11.4% |
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 Baxter mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 19 | 54.3% | |
| 2 | Hot ember or ash | 7 | 20.0% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 4 | 11.4% | |
| 4 | Heat source: other | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 5 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 6 | Molten, hot material | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 7 | Cigarette | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 8 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 1 | 2.9% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Baxter departments in 2025. These 6 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $8,500 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $7,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $5,000 | Chimney or flue fire, confined to chimney or flue | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $2,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $300 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $200 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Baxter sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 20,897 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1992 | Debris and open burning | 1,737 | 35.2 mi | |
| 2015 | Equipment and vehicle use | 1,725 | 30.5 mi | |
| 2012 | Equipment and vehicle use | 1,520 | 35.2 mi | |
| 1996 | Recreation and ceremony | 1,460 | 42.7 mi | |
| 2002 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,260 | 2.2 mi | |
| 2003 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,250 | 32.6 mi | |
| 2012 | Arson/incendiarism | 850 | 49.7 mi | |
| 1992 | Arson/incendiarism | 830 | 27.5 mi | |
| 1998 | Arson/incendiarism | 750 | 27.2 mi | |
| 1996 | Arson/incendiarism | 725 | 49.2 mi | |
| 2004 | Debris and open burning | 710 | 34.8 mi | |
| 1993 | Arson/incendiarism | 680 | 33.8 mi |
Top 2 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
Six Minnesota cities with population within ±25% of Baxter. 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.