In 2025, fire departments serving Braham responded to 21 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $150K 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 76% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Jan dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
50 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $729K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 5 | — | |
| 2022 | 6 | — | |
| 2023 | 6 | +0.0% | |
| 2024 | 12 | +100.0% | |
| 2025 | 21 | +75.0% |
* Well below Braham'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 4 building fires Braham departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 14 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 | 6 | 42.9% | |
| 2 | Heating room or area, water heater area | 2 | 14.3% | |
| 3 | Wall surface: exterior | 2 | 14.3% | |
| 4 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 1 | 7.1% | |
| 5 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 1 | 7.1% | |
| 6 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 1 | 7.1% | |
| 7 | Outside area, other | 1 | 7.1% |
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 Braham mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 10 | 71.4% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 2 | 14.3% | |
| 3 | Hot ember or ash | 1 | 7.1% | |
| 4 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 1 | 7.1% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Braham departments in 2025. These 2 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $150,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $42,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Braham sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 27,919 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 | 28.3 mi | |
| 2009 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,550 | 30.2 mi | |
| 1992 | Debris and open burning | 1,737 | 40.4 mi | |
| 1996 | Recreation and ceremony | 1,460 | 26.1 mi | |
| 2000 | Debris and open burning | 1,350 | 39.5 mi | |
| 1996 | Debris and open burning | 1,299 | 29.9 mi | |
| 2003 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,250 | 40.3 mi | |
| 2004 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 835 | 6.0 mi | |
| 2004 | Debris and open burning | 710 | 39.7 mi | |
| 1999 | Equipment and vehicle use | 700 | 35.8 mi | |
| 1993 | Arson/incendiarism | 680 | 38.7 mi | |
| 2013 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 656 | 27.6 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 | 55006 | 50 |
Six Minnesota cities with population within ±25% of Braham. 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.