In 2025, fire departments serving Centerville responded to 20 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $15K 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 85% of all calls.
Jul peaks. Feb dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
68 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $415K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 16 | — | |
| 2022 | 13 | -18.8% | |
| 2023 | 9 | -30.8% | |
| 2024 | 10 | +11.1% | |
| 2025 | 20 | +100.0% |
For the 0 building fires Centerville departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 8 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 | Vehicle area, other | 2 | 25.0% | |
| 2 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 2 | 25.0% | |
| 3 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 1 | 12.5% | |
| 4 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 1 | 12.5% | |
| 5 | Exterior, exposed surface | 1 | 12.5% | |
| 6 | Wildland, woods | 1 | 12.5% |
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 Centerville mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hot ember or ash | 3 | 37.5% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 2 | 25.0% | |
| 3 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 12.5% | |
| 4 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 1 | 12.5% | |
| 5 | Sunlight | 1 | 12.5% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Centerville departments in 2025. These 1 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $15,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Centerville sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 18,778 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 | 11.0 mi | |
| 2009 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,550 | 9.0 mi | |
| 1996 | Debris and open burning | 1,299 | 36.2 mi | |
| 2004 | Recreation and ceremony | 1,000 | 24.9 mi | |
| 2004 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 835 | 44.4 mi | |
| 2000 | Smoking | 420 | 16.3 mi | |
| 2010 | Equipment and vehicle use | 336 | 14.1 mi | |
| 1995 | Debris and open burning | 320 | 41.6 mi | |
| 1999 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 306 | 13.6 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 280 | 41.0 mi | |
| 2005 | Debris and open burning | 260 | 23.2 mi | |
| 2004 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 250 | 7.5 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 | 55038 | 68 |
Six Minnesota cities with population within ±25% of Centerville. 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.