In 2025, fire departments serving Fridley responded to 301 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $440K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Power line down lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 63% of all calls.
Jul peaks. Aug dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
1,605 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $5.2M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 320 | — | |
| 2022 | 383 | +19.7% | |
| 2023 | 287 | -25.1% | |
| 2024 | 314 | +9.4% | |
| 2025 | 301 | -4.1% |
For the 39 building fires Fridley departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 235 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 | 54 | 23.0% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 25 | 10.6% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 22 | 9.4% | |
| 4 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 19 | 8.1% | |
| 5 | Cooking area, kitchen | 12 | 5.1% | |
| 6 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 9 | 3.8% | |
| 7 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 8 | 3.4% | |
| 8 | Other | 7 | 3.0% | |
| 9 | Courtyard, patio, porch, terrace | 7 | 3.0% | |
| 10 | Wildland, woods | 7 | 3.0% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 65 | 27.7% |
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 Fridley mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 132 | 56.2% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 16 | 6.8% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 15 | 6.4% | |
| 4 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 9 | 3.8% | |
| 5 | Arcing | 9 | 3.8% | |
| 6 | Fireworks | 7 | 3.0% | |
| 7 | Heat, spark from friction | 6 | 2.6% | |
| 8 | Cigarette | 6 | 2.6% | |
| 9 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 6 | 2.6% | |
| 10 | Heat source: other | 5 | 2.1% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 24 | 10.2% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Fridley departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 84% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $440,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $153,550 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $150,000 | Rail vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $110,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $50,000 | Outside rubbish fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Fridley sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 18,198 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 | 17.1 mi | |
| 2009 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,550 | 15.7 mi | |
| 1996 | Debris and open burning | 1,299 | 32.8 mi | |
| 2004 | Recreation and ceremony | 1,000 | 18.0 mi | |
| 2000 | Smoking | 420 | 21.4 mi | |
| 2010 | Equipment and vehicle use | 336 | 14.4 mi | |
| 1995 | Debris and open burning | 320 | 37.8 mi | |
| 1999 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 306 | 12.7 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 280 | 39.1 mi | |
| 2005 | Debris and open burning | 260 | 31.6 mi | |
| 2004 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 250 | 5.5 mi | |
| 2007 | Recreation and ceremony | 248 | 19.7 mi |
Top 5 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
Six Minnesota cities with population within ±25% of Fridley. 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.