In 2025, fire departments serving Kasota responded to 18 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $100K 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 67% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Jun dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
62 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $752K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 9 | — | |
| 2022 | 9 | +0.0% | |
| 2023 | 16 | +77.8% | |
| 2024 | 10 | -37.5% | |
| 2025 | 18 | +80.0% |
For the 3 building fires Kasota departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 16 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 | 9 | 56.2% | |
| 2 | Interior stairway or ramp | 1 | 6.2% | |
| 3 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 1 | 6.2% | |
| 4 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 1 | 6.2% | |
| 5 | Attic: vacant, crawl space above top story, cupola | 1 | 6.2% | |
| 6 | Wall assembly | 1 | 6.2% | |
| 7 | Cargo/trunk area - all vehicles | 1 | 6.2% | |
| 8 | Fuel tank, fuel line | 1 | 6.2% |
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 Kasota mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 11 | 68.8% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 2 | 12.5% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 1 | 6.2% | |
| 4 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 6.2% | |
| 5 | Hot ember or ash | 1 | 6.2% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Kasota departments in 2025. These 3 fires alone account for 100% 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 | $1 | Fires in structures other than in a building | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Kasota sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 6,022 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,909 | 9.8 mi | |
| 2012 | Debris and open burning | 400 | 9.3 mi | |
| 1996 | Arson/incendiarism | 290 | 3.9 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 225 | 25.8 mi | |
| 1995 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 200 | 49.5 mi | |
| 2003 | Equipment and vehicle use | 200 | 31.3 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 180 | 41.2 mi | |
| 2000 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 180 | 44.3 mi | |
| 2000 | Debris and open burning | 177 | 49.0 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 150 | 13.1 mi | |
| 2009 | Debris and open burning | 144 | 42.5 mi | |
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 120 | 48.7 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 | 56050 | 62 |
Six Minnesota cities with population within ±25% of Kasota. 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.