In 2025, fire departments serving Dodge Center responded to 19 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $75K 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 79% of all calls.
Apr peaks. May dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
98 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $1.1M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 23 | — | |
| 2022* | 11 | — | |
| 2023 | 24 | — | |
| 2024 | 21 | -12.5% | |
| 2025 | 19 | -9.5% |
* Well below Dodge Center'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 5 building fires Dodge Center departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 29 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 | 4 | 13.8% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 4 | 13.8% | |
| 3 | Undetermined | 3 | 10.3% | |
| 4 | Bathroom, checkroom, lavatory, locker room | 2 | 6.9% | |
| 5 | Attic: vacant, crawl space above top story, cupola | 2 | 6.9% | |
| 6 | Vehicle area, other | 2 | 6.9% | |
| 7 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 1 | 3.4% | |
| 8 | Bedroom - 5+ persons; including barrack/dormitory | 1 | 3.4% | |
| 9 | Cooking area, kitchen | 1 | 3.4% | |
| 10 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 1 | 3.4% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 8 | 27.6% |
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 Dodge Center mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 9 | 31.0% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 5 | 17.2% | |
| 3 | Heat source: other | 3 | 10.3% | |
| 4 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 3 | 10.3% | |
| 5 | Arcing | 2 | 6.9% | |
| 6 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 2 | 6.9% | |
| 7 | Cigarette | 2 | 6.9% | |
| 8 | Hot ember or ash | 1 | 3.4% | |
| 9 | Match | 1 | 3.4% | |
| 10 | Cigarette lighter | 1 | 3.4% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Dodge Center departments in 2025. These 3 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $75,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $30,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $2,000 | Building or structure weakened or collapsed | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Dodge Center sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 4,913 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,909 | 48.5 mi | |
| 1998 | Arson/incendiarism | 295 | 48.4 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 225 | 37.2 mi | |
| 2012 | Debris and open burning | 200 | 47.1 mi | |
| 2000 | Debris and open burning | 177 | 35.4 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 120 | 45.2 mi | |
| 2000 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 83 | 41.9 mi | |
| 1993 | Arson/incendiarism | 83 | 48.9 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 80 | 38.4 mi | |
| 2000 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 80 | 44.2 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 60 | 43.2 mi | |
| 2004 | Arson/incendiarism | 60 | 32.1 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 | 55927 | 98 |
Six Minnesota cities with population within ±25% of Dodge Center. 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.