In 2025, fire departments serving Hopkins responded to 162 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $100K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 57% of all calls.
Jun peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
883 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $4.9M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 163 | — | |
| 2022 | 215 | +31.9% | |
| 2023 | 209 | -2.8% | |
| 2024 | 134 | -35.9% | |
| 2025 | 162 | +20.9% |
For the 17 building fires Hopkins departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 105 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 | Cooking area, kitchen | 14 | 13.3% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 14 | 13.3% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 9 | 8.6% | |
| 4 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 6 | 5.7% | |
| 5 | Undetermined | 6 | 5.7% | |
| 6 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 5 | 4.8% | |
| 7 | Vehicle area, other | 4 | 3.8% | |
| 8 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 4 | 3.8% | |
| 9 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 3 | 2.9% | |
| 10 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 3 | 2.9% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 37 | 35.2% |
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 Hopkins mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 23 | 21.9% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 15 | 14.3% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 13 | 12.4% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 11 | 10.5% | |
| 5 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 11 | 10.5% | |
| 6 | Heat source: other | 7 | 6.7% | |
| 7 | Cigarette | 5 | 4.8% | |
| 8 | Heat, spark from friction | 4 | 3.8% | |
| 9 | Cigarette lighter | 3 | 2.9% | |
| 10 | Hot ember or ash | 2 | 1.9% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 11 | 10.5% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Hopkins departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 96% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $35,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $19,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $14,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $10,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $10,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $5,500 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Hopkins sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 18,625 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 | 30.0 mi | |
| 2009 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,550 | 28.7 mi | |
| 1996 | Debris and open burning | 1,299 | 39.2 mi | |
| 2004 | Recreation and ceremony | 1,000 | 11.3 mi | |
| 2000 | Smoking | 420 | 33.9 mi | |
| 2012 | Debris and open burning | 400 | 45.8 mi | |
| 2010 | Equipment and vehicle use | 336 | 26.1 mi | |
| 1995 | Debris and open burning | 320 | 43.3 mi | |
| 1999 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 306 | 24.1 mi | |
| 1996 | Arson/incendiarism | 290 | 48.0 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 280 | 46.3 mi | |
| 2005 | Debris and open burning | 260 | 39.3 mi |
Top 3 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 Hopkins. 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.