In 2025, fire departments serving Ham Lake responded to 82 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $200K 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 52% of all calls.
Jul peaks. Feb dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
396 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $1.0M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 88 | — | |
| 2022 | 99 | +12.5% | |
| 2023 | 49 | -50.5% | |
| 2024 | 78 | +59.2% | |
| 2025 | 82 | +5.1% |
For the 11 building fires Ham Lake departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 125 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 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 17 | 13.6% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 16 | 12.8% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 13 | 10.4% | |
| 4 | Wildland, woods | 11 | 8.8% | |
| 5 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 9 | 7.2% | |
| 6 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 9 | 7.2% | |
| 7 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 7 | 5.6% | |
| 8 | Vehicle area, other | 5 | 4.0% | |
| 9 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 4 | 3.2% | |
| 10 | Other | 3 | 2.4% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 31 | 24.8% |
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 Ham Lake mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 51 | 40.8% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 9 | 7.2% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 9 | 7.2% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 6 | 4.8% | |
| 5 | Match | 6 | 4.8% | |
| 6 | Cigarette | 4 | 3.2% | |
| 7 | Cigarette lighter | 4 | 3.2% | |
| 8 | Chemical reaction | 4 | 3.2% | |
| 9 | Conducted heat from another fire | 4 | 3.2% | |
| 10 | Heat source: other | 3 | 2.4% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 25 | 20.0% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Ham Lake departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 97% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $200,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $100,000 | Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $15,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $10,000 | Fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $5,000 | Special outside fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $5,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Ham Lake sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 19,550 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 | 5.4 mi | |
| 2009 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,550 | 4.9 mi | |
| 1996 | Debris and open burning | 1,299 | 26.7 mi | |
| 2004 | Recreation and ceremony | 1,000 | 29.7 mi | |
| 2004 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 835 | 38.2 mi | |
| 2000 | Smoking | 420 | 9.3 mi | |
| 2004 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 358 | 44.3 mi | |
| 2010 | Equipment and vehicle use | 336 | 4.5 mi | |
| 2004 | Arson/incendiarism | 335 | 45.8 mi | |
| 1995 | Debris and open burning | 320 | 32.1 mi | |
| 1999 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 306 | 4.4 mi | |
| 2004 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 298 | 46.6 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 | 55304 | 396 |
Six Minnesota cities with population within ±25% of Ham 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.