In 2025, fire departments serving Cannon Falls responded to 43 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $1.3M building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Building fires lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 79% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Jul dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
259 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $4.7M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 40 | — | |
| 2022 | 44 | +10.0% | |
| 2023 | 53 | +20.5% | |
| 2024 | 79 | +49.1% | |
| 2025 | 43 | -45.6% |
For the 10 building fires Cannon Falls departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 95 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 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 41 | 43.2% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 10 | 10.5% | |
| 3 | Undetermined | 7 | 7.4% | |
| 4 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 4 | 4.2% | |
| 5 | Wall surface: exterior | 3 | 3.2% | |
| 6 | Outside area, other | 3 | 3.2% | |
| 7 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 3 | 3.2% | |
| 8 | Exterior stairway, ramp, or fire escape | 2 | 2.1% | |
| 9 | Bathroom, checkroom, lavatory, locker room | 2 | 2.1% | |
| 10 | Storage room, area, tank, or bin | 2 | 2.1% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 18 | 18.9% |
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 Cannon Falls mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 44 | 46.3% | |
| 2 | Hot ember or ash | 16 | 16.8% | |
| 3 | Flying brand, ember, spark | 9 | 9.5% | |
| 4 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 7 | 7.4% | |
| 5 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 5 | 5.3% | |
| 6 | Arcing | 2 | 2.1% | |
| 7 | Cigarette | 2 | 2.1% | |
| 8 | Chemical reaction | 2 | 2.1% | |
| 9 | Lightning | 2 | 2.1% | |
| 10 | Heat source: other | 1 | 1.1% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 5 | 5.3% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Cannon Falls departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $1,250,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $25,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $15,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $5,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $5,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $4,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $200 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Cannon Falls sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
7 fire-related casualties recorded in NFIRS Module 11 across the 2021–2025 window. Age, gender, and severity are coarse-binned — no individual identification possible.
| Age | Count | |
|---|---|---|
| 0-9 | 3 | |
| 10-19 | 0 | |
| 20-29 | 0 | |
| 30-39 | 1 | |
| 40-49 | 0 | |
| 50-59 | 2 | |
| 60-69 | 1 | |
| 70-79 | 0 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 7,056 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 | 47.5 mi | |
| 2004 | Recreation and ceremony | 1,000 | 26.7 mi | |
| 2012 | Debris and open burning | 400 | 45.5 mi | |
| 2005 | Debris and open burning | 260 | 38.6 mi | |
| 2004 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 250 | 46.9 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 225 | 29.4 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 217 | 47.6 mi | |
| 1995 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 200 | 27.2 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 200 | 27.5 mi | |
| 2000 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 180 | 30.7 mi | |
| 2009 | Debris and open burning | 144 | 32.3 mi | |
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 120 | 27.4 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 | 55009 | 259 |
Six Minnesota cities with population within ±25% of Cannon Falls. 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.