In 2025, fire departments serving Fergus Falls responded to 97 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $500K 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 56% of all calls.
May peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
493 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $2.7M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 79 | — | |
| 2022 | 104 | +31.6% | |
| 2023 | 109 | +4.8% | |
| 2024 | 104 | -4.6% | |
| 2025 | 97 | -6.7% |
For the 17 building fires Fergus Falls departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 164 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 | 27 | 16.5% | |
| 2 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 18 | 11.0% | |
| 3 | Cooking area, kitchen | 15 | 9.1% | |
| 4 | Outside area, other | 12 | 7.3% | |
| 5 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 8 | 4.9% | |
| 6 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 8 | 4.9% | |
| 7 | Wall surface: exterior | 7 | 4.3% | |
| 8 | Wildland, woods | 7 | 4.3% | |
| 9 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 5 | 3.0% | |
| 10 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 4 | 2.4% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 53 | 32.3% |
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 Fergus Falls mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 43 | 26.2% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 26 | 15.9% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 20 | 12.2% | |
| 4 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 10 | 6.1% | |
| 5 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 8 | 4.9% | |
| 6 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 8 | 4.9% | |
| 7 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 6 | 3.7% | |
| 8 | Hot ember or ash | 6 | 3.7% | |
| 9 | Heat, spark from friction | 5 | 3.0% | |
| 10 | Fireworks | 5 | 3.0% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 27 | 16.5% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Fergus Falls departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 97% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $500,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $150,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $55,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $20,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $15,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $10,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $10,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Fergus Falls sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 15,252 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 | 20.8 mi | |
| 2003 | Debris and open burning | 1,593 | 38.3 mi | |
| 1996 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,155 | 42.0 mi | |
| 1992 | Debris and open burning | 910 | 23.9 mi | |
| 2012 | Equipment and vehicle use | 900 | 22.6 mi | |
| 2010 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 720 | 40.4 mi | |
| 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 600 | 43.6 mi | |
| 1998 | Debris and open burning | 490 | 45.9 mi | |
| 2017 | Arson/incendiarism | 480 | 44.6 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 474 | 44.2 mi | |
| 2003 | Equipment and vehicle use | 470 | 39.0 mi | |
| 2010 | Equipment and vehicle use | 402 | 42.1 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 | 56537 | 493 |
Six Minnesota cities with population within ±25% of Fergus Falls. 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.