In 2025, fire departments serving La Crescent responded to 26 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $75K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Carbon monoxide incident lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 85% of all calls.
Jul peaks. Sep dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
105 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2021. $1.1M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 26 | — | |
| 2022 | 15 | -42.3% | |
| 2023 | 19 | +26.7% | |
| 2024 | 19 | +0.0% | |
| 2025 | 26 | +36.8% |
For the 3 building fires La Crescent departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 22 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 | 4 | 18.2% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 3 | 13.6% | |
| 3 | Undetermined | 3 | 13.6% | |
| 4 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 2 | 9.1% | |
| 5 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 2 | 9.1% | |
| 6 | Other | 1 | 4.5% | |
| 7 | Exterior stairway, ramp, or fire escape | 1 | 4.5% | |
| 8 | Storage area, other | 1 | 4.5% | |
| 9 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 1 | 4.5% | |
| 10 | Equipment or service area, other | 1 | 4.5% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 3 | 13.6% |
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 La Crescent mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 9 | 40.9% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 3 | 13.6% | |
| 3 | Heat source: other | 2 | 9.1% | |
| 4 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 2 | 9.1% | |
| 5 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 2 | 9.1% | |
| 6 | Heat, spark from friction | 1 | 4.5% | |
| 7 | Hot ember or ash | 1 | 4.5% | |
| 8 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 1 | 4.5% | |
| 9 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 1 | 4.5% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by La Crescent departments in 2025. These 4 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $75,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $1,200 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $100 | Grass fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $100 | Outside storage fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. La Crescent sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 4,330 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,200 | 22.8 mi | |
| 2000 | Debris and open burning | 360 | 23.8 mi | |
| 2018 | Debris and open burning | 300 | 41.2 mi | |
| 2018 | Debris and open burning | 300 | 39.8 mi | |
| 1998 | Arson/incendiarism | 295 | 43.1 mi | |
| 2012 | Equipment and vehicle use | 195 | 7.8 mi | |
| 2012 | Equipment and vehicle use | 166 | 22.1 mi | |
| 2007 | Recreation and ceremony | 159 | 38.6 mi | |
| 1999 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 124 | 19.6 mi | |
| 2003 | Debris and open burning | 104 | 42.9 mi | |
| 2009 | Equipment and vehicle use | 93 | 24.6 mi | |
| 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 89 | 49.7 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 | 55947 | 105 |
Six Minnesota cities with population within ±25% of La Crescent. 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.