In 2025, fire departments serving Little Falls responded to 76 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $500K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Unauthorized burning lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 55% of all calls.
Jan peaks. Feb dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
620 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2021. $2.3M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 373 | — | |
| 2022* | 63 | — | |
| 2023* | 56 | — | |
| 2024* | 52 | — | |
| 2025 | 76 | — |
* Well below Little Falls'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 6 building fires Little Falls departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 126 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 | 31 | 24.6% | |
| 2 | Wildland, woods | 25 | 19.8% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 17 | 13.5% | |
| 4 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 8 | 6.3% | |
| 5 | Vehicle area, other | 5 | 4.0% | |
| 6 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 5 | 4.0% | |
| 7 | Outside area, other | 5 | 4.0% | |
| 8 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 3 | 2.4% | |
| 9 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 2 | 1.6% | |
| 10 | Function area, other | 2 | 1.6% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 23 | 18.3% |
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 Little Falls mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 72 | 57.1% | |
| 2 | Munitions | 22 | 17.5% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 5 | 4.0% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 4 | 3.2% | |
| 5 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 4 | 3.2% | |
| 6 | Heat source: other | 3 | 2.4% | |
| 7 | Heat, spark from friction | 3 | 2.4% | |
| 8 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 2 | 1.6% | |
| 9 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 2 | 1.6% | |
| 10 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 1 | 0.8% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 8 | 6.3% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Little Falls departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 97% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $500,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $50,000 | Water vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $30,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $25,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $10,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $10,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $10,000 | Fire in motor home, camper, recreational vehicle | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $8,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Little Falls sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 20,435 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1992 | Debris and open burning | 1,737 | 19.6 mi | |
| 2015 | Equipment and vehicle use | 1,725 | 35.9 mi | |
| 2012 | Equipment and vehicle use | 1,520 | 49.8 mi | |
| 1996 | Recreation and ceremony | 1,460 | 39.8 mi | |
| 1996 | Debris and open burning | 1,299 | 49.2 mi | |
| 2002 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,260 | 23.2 mi | |
| 2003 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,250 | 19.8 mi | |
| 1992 | Arson/incendiarism | 830 | 8.6 mi | |
| 1998 | Arson/incendiarism | 750 | 7.9 mi | |
| 2004 | Debris and open burning | 710 | 20.3 mi | |
| 1993 | Arson/incendiarism | 680 | 21.4 mi | |
| 2006 | Arson/incendiarism | 663 | 19.0 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 | 56345 | 620 |
Six Minnesota cities with population within ±25% of Little Falls. 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.