In 2025, fire departments serving Blaine responded to 244 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $100K 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 60% of all calls.
Jul peaks. Nov dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
1,362 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $7.0M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 196 | — | |
| 2022 | 337 | +71.9% | |
| 2023 | 317 | -5.9% | |
| 2024 | 268 | -15.5% | |
| 2025 | 244 | -9.0% |
For the 26 building fires Blaine departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 280 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 | 64 | 22.9% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 38 | 13.6% | |
| 3 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 26 | 9.3% | |
| 4 | Undetermined | 21 | 7.5% | |
| 5 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 15 | 5.4% | |
| 6 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 12 | 4.3% | |
| 7 | Wildland, woods | 12 | 4.3% | |
| 8 | Cooking area, kitchen | 10 | 3.6% | |
| 9 | Exterior, exposed surface | 8 | 2.9% | |
| 10 | Cargo/trunk area - all vehicles | 6 | 2.1% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 68 | 24.3% |
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 Blaine mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 129 | 46.1% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 24 | 8.6% | |
| 3 | Hot ember or ash | 21 | 7.5% | |
| 4 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 14 | 5.0% | |
| 5 | Arcing | 13 | 4.6% | |
| 6 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 13 | 4.6% | |
| 7 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 10 | 3.6% | |
| 8 | Cigarette | 10 | 3.6% | |
| 9 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 7 | 2.5% | |
| 10 | Heat source: other | 6 | 2.1% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 33 | 11.8% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Blaine departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 82% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $57,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $52,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $40,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $22,000 | Outside equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $20,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $20,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $20,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Blaine sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 18,880 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | Debris and open burning | 8,513 | 10.6 mi | |
| 2009 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,550 | 9.3 mi | |
| 1996 | Debris and open burning | 1,299 | 30.1 mi | |
| 2004 | Recreation and ceremony | 1,000 | 23.8 mi | |
| 2004 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 835 | 44.0 mi | |
| 2000 | Smoking | 420 | 15.2 mi | |
| 2010 | Equipment and vehicle use | 336 | 9.2 mi | |
| 1995 | Debris and open burning | 320 | 35.4 mi | |
| 1999 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 306 | 7.9 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 280 | 35.7 mi | |
| 2005 | Debris and open burning | 260 | 30.4 mi | |
| 2004 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 250 | 1.0 mi |
Top 6 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 Blaine. 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.