In 2025, fire departments serving Chanhassen responded to 107 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $25K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Flammable gas or liquid condition, other lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 71% of all calls.
Jul peaks. Aug dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
509 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $1.0M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 104 | — | |
| 2022 | 106 | +1.9% | |
| 2023 | 183 | +72.6% | |
| 2024* | 9 | — | |
| 2025 | 107 | — |
* Well below Chanhassen'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 Chanhassen departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 71 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 | 21 | 29.6% | |
| 2 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 4 | 5.6% | |
| 3 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 4 | 5.6% | |
| 4 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 4 | 5.6% | |
| 5 | Wildland, woods | 4 | 5.6% | |
| 6 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 3 | 4.2% | |
| 7 | Wall surface: exterior | 3 | 4.2% | |
| 8 | Undetermined | 3 | 4.2% | |
| 9 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 2 | 2.8% | |
| 10 | Duct: hvac, cable, exhaust, heating, or AC | 2 | 2.8% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 21 | 29.6% |
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 Chanhassen mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 23 | 32.4% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 9 | 12.7% | |
| 3 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 8 | 11.3% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 6 | 8.5% | |
| 5 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 4 | 5.6% | |
| 6 | Heat source: other | 3 | 4.2% | |
| 7 | Chemical reaction | 3 | 4.2% | |
| 8 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 3 | 4.2% | |
| 9 | Lightning | 2 | 2.8% | |
| 10 | Multiple heat sources including multiple ignitions | 2 | 2.8% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 8 | 11.3% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Chanhassen departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 98% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $25,000 | Fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $18,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $11,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $7,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $5,000 | Outside equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $1,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $500 | Special outside fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $500 | Dumpster or other outside trash receptacle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Chanhassen sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 21,394 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 | 38.1 mi | |
| 2006 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,909 | 44.0 mi | |
| 2009 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,550 | 37.0 mi | |
| 1996 | Debris and open burning | 1,299 | 42.3 mi | |
| 2004 | Recreation and ceremony | 1,000 | 16.7 mi | |
| 2000 | Smoking | 420 | 41.6 mi | |
| 2012 | Debris and open burning | 400 | 38.5 mi | |
| 2010 | Equipment and vehicle use | 336 | 33.3 mi | |
| 1995 | Debris and open burning | 320 | 45.6 mi | |
| 1999 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 306 | 31.3 mi | |
| 1996 | Arson/incendiarism | 290 | 39.9 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 280 | 49.7 mi |
Top 3 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 Chanhassen. 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.