In 2025, fire departments serving Glenwood responded to 27 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $10K 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 78% of all calls.
Jul peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
217 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $594K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 51 | — | |
| 2022 | 67 | +31.4% | |
| 2023 | 51 | -23.9% | |
| 2024* | 21 | — | |
| 2025 | 27 | — |
* Well below Glenwood'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 Glenwood departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 29 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 | 20 | 69.0% | |
| 2 | Other | 2 | 6.9% | |
| 3 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 2 | 6.9% | |
| 4 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 2 | 6.9% | |
| 5 | Cooking area, kitchen | 1 | 3.4% | |
| 6 | Outside area, other | 1 | 3.4% | |
| 7 | Multiple areas | 1 | 3.4% |
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 Glenwood mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 23 | 79.3% | |
| 2 | Heat source: other | 2 | 6.9% | |
| 3 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 2 | 6.9% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 1 | 3.4% | |
| 5 | Match | 1 | 3.4% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Glenwood departments in 2025. These 2 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $10,000 | Grass fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $1 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Glenwood sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 11,829 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | Debris and open burning | 3,191 | 47.0 mi | |
| 2000 | Debris and open burning | 847 | 20.5 mi | |
| 1992 | Debris and open burning | 620 | 40.3 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 590 | 45.7 mi | |
| 2003 | Equipment and vehicle use | 470 | 40.7 mi | |
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 440 | 38.8 mi | |
| 2013 | Recreation and ceremony | 430 | 30.7 mi | |
| 1992 | Debris and open burning | 404 | 13.4 mi | |
| 1992 | Debris and open burning | 360 | 48.1 mi | |
| 2006 | Recreation and ceremony | 326 | 32.5 mi | |
| 2010 | Debris and open burning | 321 | 11.0 mi | |
| 2015 | Debris and open burning | 320 | 40.8 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 | 56334 | 217 |
Six Minnesota cities with population within ±25% of Glenwood. 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.