In 2025, fire departments serving Columbia Heights responded to 158 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $70K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Power line down lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 72% of all calls.
Jul peaks. Sep dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
908 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $1.5M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 185 | — | |
| 2022 | 185 | +0.0% | |
| 2023 | 212 | +14.6% | |
| 2024 | 168 | -20.8% | |
| 2025 | 158 | -6.0% |
For the 22 building fires Columbia Heights departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 110 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 | 18 | 16.4% | |
| 2 | Cooking area, kitchen | 14 | 12.7% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 13 | 11.8% | |
| 4 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 6 | 5.5% | |
| 5 | Wall surface: exterior | 6 | 5.5% | |
| 6 | Other | 5 | 4.5% | |
| 7 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 5 | 4.5% | |
| 8 | Exterior, exposed surface | 4 | 3.6% | |
| 9 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 3 | 2.7% | |
| 10 | Heating room or area, water heater area | 3 | 2.7% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 33 | 30.0% |
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 Columbia Heights mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 42 | 38.2% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 11 | 10.0% | |
| 3 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 9 | 8.2% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 7 | 6.4% | |
| 5 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 6 | 5.5% | |
| 6 | Hot ember or ash | 5 | 4.5% | |
| 7 | Cigarette | 5 | 4.5% | |
| 8 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 4 | 3.6% | |
| 9 | Candle | 3 | 2.7% | |
| 10 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 2 | 1.8% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 16 | 14.5% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Columbia Heights departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 96% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $70,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $10,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $7,500 | Dumpster or other outside trash receptacle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $6,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $5,000 | Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $5,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $4,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $3,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Columbia Heights sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 18,232 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 | 19.2 mi | |
| 2009 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,550 | 17.7 mi | |
| 1996 | Debris and open burning | 1,299 | 35.2 mi | |
| 2004 | Recreation and ceremony | 1,000 | 15.5 mi | |
| 2000 | Smoking | 420 | 23.7 mi | |
| 2010 | Equipment and vehicle use | 336 | 16.9 mi | |
| 1995 | Debris and open burning | 320 | 40.1 mi | |
| 1999 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 306 | 15.2 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 280 | 41.5 mi | |
| 2005 | Debris and open burning | 260 | 30.8 mi | |
| 2004 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 250 | 7.6 mi | |
| 2007 | Recreation and ceremony | 248 | 21.7 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 Columbia Heights. 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.