In 2025, fire departments serving Mahtomedi responded to 56 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $475K 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 75% of all calls.
Jul peaks. Feb dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
239 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $1.2M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 44 | — | |
| 2022 | 56 | +27.3% | |
| 2023 | 39 | -30.4% | |
| 2024 | 44 | +12.8% | |
| 2025 | 56 | +27.3% |
For the 9 building fires Mahtomedi departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 26 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 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 5 | 19.2% | |
| 2 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 4 | 15.4% | |
| 3 | Dining room, cafeteria bar area, beverage service | 3 | 11.5% | |
| 4 | Cooking area, kitchen | 3 | 11.5% | |
| 5 | Structural area, other | 2 | 7.7% | |
| 6 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 2 | 7.7% | |
| 7 | Other | 1 | 3.8% | |
| 8 | Bathroom, checkroom, lavatory, locker room | 1 | 3.8% | |
| 9 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 1 | 3.8% | |
| 10 | Ceiling & floor assembly, crawl space b/t stories | 1 | 3.8% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 3 | 11.5% |
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 Mahtomedi mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 4 | 15.4% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 3 | 11.5% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 3 | 11.5% | |
| 4 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 3 | 11.5% | |
| 5 | Chemical reaction | 3 | 11.5% | |
| 6 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 2 | 7.7% | |
| 7 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 2 | 7.7% | |
| 8 | Heat from undetermined smoking material | 2 | 7.7% | |
| 9 | Conducted heat from another fire | 2 | 7.7% | |
| 10 | Heat source: other | 1 | 3.8% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 1 | 3.8% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Mahtomedi departments in 2025. These 5 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $475,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $20,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $10,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $1,200 | Fires in structures other than in a building | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $5 | Trash or rubbish fire, contained | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Mahtomedi sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 17,992 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 | 19.1 mi | |
| 2009 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,550 | 17.1 mi | |
| 1996 | Debris and open burning | 1,299 | 43.9 mi | |
| 2004 | Recreation and ceremony | 1,000 | 20.7 mi | |
| 2000 | Smoking | 420 | 24.5 mi | |
| 2010 | Equipment and vehicle use | 336 | 22.0 mi | |
| 1995 | Debris and open burning | 320 | 49.3 mi | |
| 1999 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 306 | 21.3 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 280 | 49.0 mi | |
| 2005 | Debris and open burning | 260 | 17.2 mi | |
| 2004 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 250 | 13.4 mi | |
| 2007 | Recreation and ceremony | 248 | 19.9 mi |
Top 2 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 Mahtomedi. 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.