In 2025, fire departments serving Maplewood responded to 408 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $325K 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 67% of all calls.
Jul peaks. Jan dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
1,499 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $7.2M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 234 | — | |
| 2022 | 302 | +29.1% | |
| 2023 | 220 | -27.2% | |
| 2024 | 335 | +52.3% | |
| 2025 | 408 | +21.8% |
For the 92 building fires Maplewood departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 241 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 | 48 | 19.9% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 24 | 10.0% | |
| 3 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 20 | 8.3% | |
| 4 | Cooking area, kitchen | 19 | 7.9% | |
| 5 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 11 | 4.6% | |
| 6 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 10 | 4.1% | |
| 7 | Wall surface: exterior | 9 | 3.7% | |
| 8 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 6 | 2.5% | |
| 9 | Bathroom, checkroom, lavatory, locker room | 6 | 2.5% | |
| 10 | Laboratory | 6 | 2.5% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 82 | 34.0% |
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 Maplewood mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 111 | 46.1% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 32 | 13.3% | |
| 3 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 22 | 9.1% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 10 | 4.1% | |
| 5 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 10 | 4.1% | |
| 6 | Hot ember or ash | 9 | 3.7% | |
| 7 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 8 | 3.3% | |
| 8 | Cigarette lighter | 6 | 2.5% | |
| 9 | Heat source: other | 5 | 2.1% | |
| 10 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 5 | 2.1% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 23 | 9.5% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Maplewood departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 76% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $325,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $150,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $60,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $40,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Maplewood sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 17,765 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 | 23.3 mi | |
| 2009 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,550 | 21.4 mi | |
| 1996 | Debris and open burning | 1,299 | 45.5 mi | |
| 2004 | Recreation and ceremony | 1,000 | 14.7 mi | |
| 2000 | Smoking | 420 | 28.7 mi | |
| 2010 | Equipment and vehicle use | 336 | 24.6 mi | |
| 1999 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 306 | 23.5 mi | |
| 2005 | Debris and open burning | 260 | 20.2 mi | |
| 2004 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 250 | 14.8 mi | |
| 2007 | Recreation and ceremony | 248 | 24.6 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 225 | 48.6 mi | |
| 2000 | Equipment and vehicle use | 220 | 46.3 mi |
Top 8 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 Maplewood. 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.