In 2025, fire departments serving Forest Lake responded to 137 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $450K 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 64% of all calls.
Aug peaks. Jun dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
617 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $7.6M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 99 | — | |
| 2022 | 108 | +9.1% | |
| 2023 | 145 | +34.3% | |
| 2024 | 128 | -11.7% | |
| 2025 | 137 | +7.0% |
For the 33 building fires Forest Lake departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 116 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 | 28 | 24.1% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 24 | 20.7% | |
| 3 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 8 | 6.9% | |
| 4 | Cooking area, kitchen | 7 | 6.0% | |
| 5 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 7 | 6.0% | |
| 6 | Wall surface: exterior | 7 | 6.0% | |
| 7 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 6 | 5.2% | |
| 8 | Wall assembly | 3 | 2.6% | |
| 9 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 3 | 2.6% | |
| 10 | Function area, other | 2 | 1.7% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 21 | 18.1% |
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 Forest Lake mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 76 | 65.5% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 12 | 10.3% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 4 | 3.4% | |
| 4 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 3 | 2.6% | |
| 5 | Arcing | 3 | 2.6% | |
| 6 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 3 | 2.6% | |
| 7 | Cigarette | 3 | 2.6% | |
| 8 | Heat, spark from friction | 2 | 1.7% | |
| 9 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 2 | 1.7% | |
| 10 | Flying brand, ember, spark | 2 | 1.7% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 6 | 5.2% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Forest Lake departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 97% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $450,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $387,100 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 3 | $300,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 4 | $150,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $125,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $40,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $15,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Forest Lake sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 19,955 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | Debris and open burning | 8,513 | 9.3 mi | |
| 2009 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,550 | 7.9 mi | |
| 1996 | Debris and open burning | 1,299 | 37.3 mi | |
| 2004 | Recreation and ceremony | 1,000 | 32.3 mi | |
| 2004 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 835 | 39.0 mi | |
| 2013 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 656 | 44.7 mi | |
| 2000 | Smoking | 420 | 13.6 mi | |
| 2004 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 358 | 44.7 mi | |
| 2010 | Equipment and vehicle use | 336 | 15.8 mi | |
| 2004 | Arson/incendiarism | 335 | 47.5 mi | |
| 1995 | Debris and open burning | 320 | 42.8 mi | |
| 1999 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 306 | 16.3 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 | 55025 | 617 |
Six Minnesota cities with population within ±25% of Forest Lake. 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.