In 2025, fire departments serving Coon Rapids responded to 378 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $337K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Unauthorized burning lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 61% of all calls.
Jul peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
1,931 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2021. $8.2M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 446 | — | |
| 2022 | 389 | -12.8% | |
| 2023 | 338 | -13.1% | |
| 2024 | 380 | +12.4% | |
| 2025 | 378 | -0.5% |
For the 32 building fires Coon Rapids departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 376 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 | 53 | 14.1% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 51 | 13.6% | |
| 3 | Undetermined | 44 | 11.7% | |
| 4 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 30 | 8.0% | |
| 5 | Cooking area, kitchen | 28 | 7.4% | |
| 6 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 19 | 5.1% | |
| 7 | Wall surface: exterior | 16 | 4.3% | |
| 8 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 16 | 4.3% | |
| 9 | Wildland, woods | 15 | 4.0% | |
| 10 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 11 | 2.9% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 93 | 24.7% |
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 Coon Rapids mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 191 | 50.8% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 28 | 7.4% | |
| 3 | Cigarette | 22 | 5.9% | |
| 4 | Hot ember or ash | 20 | 5.3% | |
| 5 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 13 | 3.5% | |
| 6 | Fireworks | 13 | 3.5% | |
| 7 | Heat source: other | 11 | 2.9% | |
| 8 | Arcing | 11 | 2.9% | |
| 9 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 9 | 2.4% | |
| 10 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 8 | 2.1% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 50 | 13.3% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Coon Rapids departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 63% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $336,800 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $170,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $130,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $125,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $113,700 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $75,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Coon Rapids sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 18,970 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 | 12.9 mi | |
| 2009 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,550 | 12.2 mi | |
| 1996 | Debris and open burning | 1,299 | 26.4 mi | |
| 2004 | Recreation and ceremony | 1,000 | 24.6 mi | |
| 2004 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 835 | 44.3 mi | |
| 2000 | Smoking | 420 | 16.2 mi | |
| 2010 | Equipment and vehicle use | 336 | 8.2 mi | |
| 1995 | Debris and open burning | 320 | 31.5 mi | |
| 1999 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 306 | 6.3 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 280 | 32.4 mi | |
| 2005 | Debris and open burning | 260 | 35.3 mi | |
| 2004 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 250 | 5.2 mi |
Top 4 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 Coon Rapids. 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.