In 2025, fire departments serving Clarissa responded to 19 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $3 building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Vehicle accident, general cleanup lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 95% of all calls.
May peaks. Jan dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
61 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $895K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 8 | — | |
| 2022 | 8 | +0.0% | |
| 2023 | 16 | +100.0% | |
| 2024 | 10 | -37.5% | |
| 2025 | 19 | +90.0% |
For the 1 building fires Clarissa departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 23 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 | 16 | 69.6% | |
| 2 | Storage area, other | 2 | 8.7% | |
| 3 | Cooking area, kitchen | 1 | 4.3% | |
| 4 | Heating room or area, water heater area | 1 | 4.3% | |
| 5 | Vehicle area, other | 1 | 4.3% | |
| 6 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 1 | 4.3% | |
| 7 | Outside area, other | 1 | 4.3% |
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 Clarissa mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 20 | 87.0% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 1 | 4.3% | |
| 3 | Hot ember or ash | 1 | 4.3% | |
| 4 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 1 | 4.3% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Clarissa departments in 2025. These 2 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $3 | Grass fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $2 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Clarissa sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 20,531 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 7,100 | 49.8 mi | |
| 2015 | Equipment and vehicle use | 1,725 | 14.1 mi | |
| 2012 | Equipment and vehicle use | 1,520 | 32.1 mi | |
| 2002 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,260 | 35.4 mi | |
| 1992 | Arson/incendiarism | 830 | 38.5 mi | |
| 1998 | Arson/incendiarism | 750 | 37.9 mi | |
| 2006 | Arson/incendiarism | 663 | 43.7 mi | |
| 1992 | Debris and open burning | 620 | 22.8 mi | |
| 2003 | Equipment and vehicle use | 470 | 16.8 mi | |
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 440 | 15.5 mi | |
| 2012 | Debris and open burning | 393 | 43.3 mi | |
| 1997 | Arson/incendiarism | 380 | 38.0 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 | 56440 | 61 |
Six Minnesota cities with population within ±25% of Clarissa. 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.