In 2025, fire departments serving Dilworth responded to 29 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $5K 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 76% of all calls.
Nov peaks. Feb dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
135 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $370K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 30 | — | |
| 2022 | 33 | +10.0% | |
| 2023 | 34 | +3.0% | |
| 2024* | 9 | — | |
| 2025 | 29 | — |
* Well below Dilworth'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 7 building fires Dilworth departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 28 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 | 5 | 17.9% | |
| 2 | Cooking area, kitchen | 3 | 10.7% | |
| 3 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 3 | 10.7% | |
| 4 | Undetermined | 3 | 10.7% | |
| 5 | Other | 2 | 7.1% | |
| 6 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 2 | 7.1% | |
| 7 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 1 | 3.6% | |
| 8 | Bathroom, checkroom, lavatory, locker room | 1 | 3.6% | |
| 9 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 1 | 3.6% | |
| 10 | Wall assembly | 1 | 3.6% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 6 | 21.4% |
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 Dilworth mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 16 | 57.1% | |
| 2 | Heat source: other | 3 | 10.7% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 2 | 7.1% | |
| 4 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 2 | 7.1% | |
| 5 | Arcing | 2 | 7.1% | |
| 6 | Hot ember or ash | 1 | 3.6% | |
| 7 | Cigarette | 1 | 3.6% | |
| 8 | Multiple heat sources including multiple ignitions | 1 | 3.6% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Dilworth departments in 2025. These 2 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $5,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $1 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Dilworth sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 26,588 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,855 | 30.1 mi | |
| 2010 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,425 | 41.3 mi | |
| 2003 | Debris and open burning | 1,593 | 41.1 mi | |
| 2011 | Debris and open burning | 1,540 | 27.8 mi | |
| 2013 | Debris and open burning | 1,381 | 49.0 mi | |
| 2015 | Equipment and vehicle use | 1,200 | 17.8 mi | |
| 2012 | Equipment and vehicle use | 1,185 | 39.6 mi | |
| 1996 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,155 | 12.1 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,122 | 33.3 mi | |
| 2011 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,000 | 40.2 mi | |
| 1999 | Debris and open burning | 990 | 32.2 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 950 | 38.6 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 | 56529 | 135 |
Six Minnesota cities with population within ±25% of Dilworth. 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.