In 2025, fire departments serving Cottage Grove responded to 149 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $100K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Building fires lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 73% of all calls.
Jun peaks. Sep dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
660 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $3.3M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 90 | — | |
| 2022 | 129 | +43.3% | |
| 2023 | 145 | +12.4% | |
| 2024 | 147 | +1.4% | |
| 2025 | 149 | +1.4% |
For the 36 building fires Cottage Grove departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 92 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 | 20 | 21.7% | |
| 2 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 8 | 8.7% | |
| 3 | Cooking area, kitchen | 7 | 7.6% | |
| 4 | Outside area, other | 6 | 6.5% | |
| 5 | Undetermined | 6 | 6.5% | |
| 6 | Wall surface: exterior | 5 | 5.4% | |
| 7 | Vehicle area, other | 5 | 5.4% | |
| 8 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 4 | 4.3% | |
| 9 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 3 | 3.3% | |
| 10 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 3 | 3.3% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 25 | 27.2% |
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 Cottage Grove mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 24 | 26.1% | |
| 2 | Heat source: other | 15 | 16.3% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 12 | 13.0% | |
| 4 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 9 | 9.8% | |
| 5 | Arcing | 7 | 7.6% | |
| 6 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 6 | 6.5% | |
| 7 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 3 | 3.3% | |
| 8 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 2 | 2.2% | |
| 9 | Heat, spark from friction | 2 | 2.2% | |
| 10 | Hot ember or ash | 2 | 2.2% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 10 | 10.9% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Cottage Grove departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 94% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $80,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $40,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $40,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $20,000 | Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $10,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $7,000 | Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Cottage Grove sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 16,363 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 | 35.8 mi | |
| 2009 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,550 | 33.8 mi | |
| 2004 | Recreation and ceremony | 1,000 | 14.5 mi | |
| 2000 | Smoking | 420 | 41.1 mi | |
| 2010 | Equipment and vehicle use | 336 | 37.1 mi | |
| 1999 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 306 | 35.9 mi | |
| 2005 | Debris and open burning | 260 | 21.3 mi | |
| 2004 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 250 | 27.1 mi | |
| 2007 | Recreation and ceremony | 248 | 36.9 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 225 | 41.3 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 217 | 27.8 mi | |
| 1995 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 200 | 16.8 mi |
Top 2 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 Cottage Grove. 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.