In 2025, fire departments serving East Grand Forks responded to 47 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $75K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Cooking fire, confined to container lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 60% of all calls.
Dec peaks. Jul dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
236 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $1.4M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 44 | — | |
| 2022 | 42 | -4.5% | |
| 2023 | 62 | +47.6% | |
| 2024 | 41 | -33.9% | |
| 2025 | 47 | +14.6% |
For the 7 building fires East Grand Forks departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 79 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 | Cooking area, kitchen | 12 | 15.2% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 11 | 13.9% | |
| 3 | Undetermined | 7 | 8.9% | |
| 4 | Outside area, other | 5 | 6.3% | |
| 5 | Processing/manufacturing area, workroom | 4 | 5.1% | |
| 6 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 4 | 5.1% | |
| 7 | Ceiling & floor assembly, crawl space b/t stories | 3 | 3.8% | |
| 8 | Attic: vacant, crawl space above top story, cupola | 3 | 3.8% | |
| 9 | Egress/exit, other | 2 | 2.5% | |
| 10 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 2 | 2.5% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 26 | 32.9% |
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 East Grand Forks mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 26 | 32.9% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 9 | 11.4% | |
| 3 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 7 | 8.9% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 7 | 8.9% | |
| 5 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 5 | 6.3% | |
| 6 | Hot ember or ash | 5 | 6.3% | |
| 7 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 4 | 5.1% | |
| 8 | Cigarette | 4 | 5.1% | |
| 9 | Heat, spark from friction | 2 | 2.5% | |
| 10 | Molten, hot material | 2 | 2.5% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 8 | 10.1% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by East Grand Forks departments in 2025. These 7 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $75,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $12,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $10,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $3,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $500 | Cooking fire, confined to container | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $500 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $100 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. East Grand Forks sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 35,421 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 5,500 | 21.6 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 4,440 | 45.3 mi | |
| 2020 | Debris and open burning | 3,200 | 20.0 mi | |
| 2007 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,500 | 48.4 mi | |
| 2010 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,425 | 43.9 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,792 | 36.7 mi | |
| 2007 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,600 | 43.7 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,422 | 36.5 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,200 | 48.3 mi | |
| 2003 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,150 | 47.9 mi | |
| 2004 | Debris and open burning | 1,120 | 34.1 mi | |
| 2002 | Arson/incendiarism | 800 | 47.4 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 | 56721 | 236 |
Six Minnesota cities with population within ±25% of East Grand Forks. 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.