In 2025, fire departments serving Clearwater responded to 24 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $80K 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 58% of all calls.
Aug peaks. Apr dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
126 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2021. $717K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 41 | — | |
| 2022 | 28 | -31.7% | |
| 2023 | 33 | +17.9% | |
| 2024* | 0 | — | |
| 2025 | 24 | — |
* Well below Clearwater'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 3 building fires Clearwater departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 32 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 | 9 | 28.1% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 5 | 15.6% | |
| 3 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 4 | 12.5% | |
| 4 | Vehicle area, other | 3 | 9.4% | |
| 5 | Outside area, other | 2 | 6.2% | |
| 6 | Egress/exit, other | 1 | 3.1% | |
| 7 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 1 | 3.1% | |
| 8 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 1 | 3.1% | |
| 9 | Storage area, other | 1 | 3.1% | |
| 10 | Duct: hvac, cable, exhaust, heating, or AC | 1 | 3.1% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 4 | 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 Clearwater mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 17 | 53.1% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 4 | 12.5% | |
| 3 | Heat source: other | 2 | 6.2% | |
| 4 | Heat, spark from friction | 2 | 6.2% | |
| 5 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 3.1% | |
| 6 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 1 | 3.1% | |
| 7 | Arcing | 1 | 3.1% | |
| 8 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 1 | 3.1% | |
| 9 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 1 | 3.1% | |
| 10 | Chemical, natural heat source, other | 1 | 3.1% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 1 | 3.1% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Clearwater departments in 2025. These 4 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $80,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $23,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $3,000 | Camper or recreational vehicle (RV) fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $150 | Cooking fire, confined to container | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Clearwater sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 26,655 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 | 44.9 mi | |
| 2009 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,550 | 46.0 mi | |
| 1992 | Debris and open burning | 1,737 | 32.4 mi | |
| 1996 | Recreation and ceremony | 1,460 | 48.2 mi | |
| 1996 | Debris and open burning | 1,299 | 18.7 mi | |
| 2003 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,250 | 36.0 mi | |
| 1992 | Arson/incendiarism | 830 | 38.0 mi | |
| 1998 | Arson/incendiarism | 750 | 38.3 mi | |
| 2004 | Debris and open burning | 710 | 33.5 mi | |
| 1993 | Arson/incendiarism | 680 | 35.7 mi | |
| 1993 | Arson/incendiarism | 640 | 34.3 mi | |
| 1992 | Debris and open burning | 620 | 43.4 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 | 55320 | 126 |
Six Minnesota cities with population within ±25% of Clearwater. 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.