In 2025, fire departments serving Le Center responded to 36 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $150K 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 64% of all calls.
Jan peaks. Feb dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
106 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $1.0M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 12 | — | |
| 2022 | 22 | — | |
| 2023 | 24 | +9.1% | |
| 2024* | 12 | — | |
| 2025 | 36 | — |
* Well below Le Center'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 8 building fires Le Center departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 20 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 | Other | 4 | 20.0% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 3 | 15.0% | |
| 3 | Storage room, area, tank, or bin | 2 | 10.0% | |
| 4 | Outside area, other | 2 | 10.0% | |
| 5 | Undetermined | 2 | 10.0% | |
| 6 | Cooking area, kitchen | 1 | 5.0% | |
| 7 | Processing/manufacturing area, workroom | 1 | 5.0% | |
| 8 | Storage area, other | 1 | 5.0% | |
| 9 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 1 | 5.0% | |
| 10 | Substructure area or space, crawl space | 1 | 5.0% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 2 | 10.0% |
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 Le Center mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 7 | 35.0% | |
| 2 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 3 | 15.0% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 2 | 10.0% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 2 | 10.0% | |
| 5 | Other static discharge | 2 | 10.0% | |
| 6 | Heat source: other | 1 | 5.0% | |
| 7 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 5.0% | |
| 8 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 1 | 5.0% | |
| 9 | Multiple heat sources including multiple ignitions | 1 | 5.0% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Le Center departments in 2025. These 6 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $150,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $150,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $10,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $5,000 | Cooking fire, confined to container | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $5,000 | Fire in mobile home used as fixed residence | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $3,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Le Center sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 7,205 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 | 10.7 mi | |
| 2004 | Recreation and ceremony | 1,000 | 39.2 mi | |
| 2012 | Debris and open burning | 400 | 5.3 mi | |
| 1996 | Arson/incendiarism | 290 | 9.9 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 225 | 13.9 mi | |
| 1995 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 200 | 36.8 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 200 | 42.5 mi | |
| 2003 | Equipment and vehicle use | 200 | 25.7 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 180 | 44.7 mi | |
| 2000 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 180 | 32.2 mi | |
| 2000 | Debris and open burning | 177 | 49.5 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 150 | 26.6 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 | 56057 | 106 |
Six Minnesota cities with population within ±25% of Le Center. 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.