In 2025, fire departments serving Eagle Bend responded to 18 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $65K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Grass fire lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 72% of all calls.
Apr peaks. Jan dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
50 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $327K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 8 | — | |
| 2022 | 13 | +62.5% | |
| 2023 | 8 | -38.5% | |
| 2024* | 3 | — | |
| 2025 | 18 | — |
* Well below Eagle Bend'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 2 building fires Eagle Bend departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 26 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 | Undetermined | 8 | 30.8% | |
| 2 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 3 | 11.5% | |
| 3 | Vehicle area, other | 2 | 7.7% | |
| 4 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 2 | 7.7% | |
| 5 | Outside area, other | 2 | 7.7% | |
| 6 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 2 | 7.7% | |
| 7 | Other | 1 | 3.8% | |
| 8 | Function area, other | 1 | 3.8% | |
| 9 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 1 | 3.8% | |
| 10 | Attic: vacant, crawl space above top story, cupola | 1 | 3.8% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 3 | 11.5% |
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 Eagle Bend mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 12 | 46.2% | |
| 2 | Hot ember or ash | 3 | 11.5% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 2 | 7.7% | |
| 4 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 2 | 7.7% | |
| 5 | Heat source: other | 1 | 3.8% | |
| 6 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 3.8% | |
| 7 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 1 | 3.8% | |
| 8 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 1 | 3.8% | |
| 9 | Chemical reaction | 1 | 3.8% | |
| 10 | Radiated heat from another fire | 1 | 3.8% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 1 | 3.8% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Eagle Bend departments in 2025. These 5 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $65,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $40,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $6,300 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $5,000 | Fire in motor home, camper, recreational vehicle | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $3,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Eagle Bend sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 20,143 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 7,100 | 46.5 mi | |
| 2015 | Equipment and vehicle use | 1,725 | 12.8 mi | |
| 2012 | Equipment and vehicle use | 1,520 | 30.0 mi | |
| 2002 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,260 | 38.4 mi | |
| 1992 | Arson/incendiarism | 830 | 43.2 mi | |
| 1998 | Arson/incendiarism | 750 | 42.5 mi | |
| 1992 | Debris and open burning | 620 | 27.5 mi | |
| 2003 | Equipment and vehicle use | 470 | 12.1 mi | |
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 440 | 20.2 mi | |
| 2012 | Debris and open burning | 393 | 41.8 mi | |
| 1997 | Arson/incendiarism | 380 | 42.7 mi | |
| 1992 | Debris and open burning | 360 | 27.9 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 | 56446 | 50 |
Six Minnesota cities with population within ±25% of Eagle Bend. 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.