In 2025, fire departments serving Marshall responded to 60 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $225K 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 63% of all calls.
Apr peaks. Aug dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
303 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $3.0M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 54 | — | |
| 2022 | 74 | +37.0% | |
| 2023 | 61 | -17.6% | |
| 2024 | 54 | -11.5% | |
| 2025 | 60 | +11.1% |
For the 12 building fires Marshall departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 74 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 | 18 | 24.3% | |
| 2 | Cooking area, kitchen | 7 | 9.5% | |
| 3 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 5 | 6.8% | |
| 4 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 5 | 6.8% | |
| 5 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 3 | 4.1% | |
| 6 | Storage area, other | 3 | 4.1% | |
| 7 | Attic: vacant, crawl space above top story, cupola | 3 | 4.1% | |
| 8 | Vehicle area, other | 3 | 4.1% | |
| 9 | Undetermined | 3 | 4.1% | |
| 10 | Storage room, area, tank, or bin | 2 | 2.7% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 22 | 29.7% |
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 Marshall mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 17 | 23.0% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 15 | 20.3% | |
| 3 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 11 | 14.9% | |
| 4 | Undetermined | 10 | 13.5% | |
| 5 | Arcing | 7 | 9.5% | |
| 6 | Hot ember or ash | 5 | 6.8% | |
| 7 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 3 | 4.1% | |
| 8 | Cigarette | 2 | 2.7% | |
| 9 | Heat source: other | 1 | 1.4% | |
| 10 | Backfire from internal combustion engine | 1 | 1.4% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 2 | 2.7% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Marshall departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 99% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $225,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $208,742 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $12,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $10,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $10,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $10,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $5,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Marshall sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 8,236 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | Debris and open burning | 3,191 | 47.9 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,100 | 46.4 mi | |
| 2008 | Debris and open burning | 613 | 45.4 mi | |
| 2009 | Debris and open burning | 345 | 45.4 mi | |
| 2004 | Arson/incendiarism | 200 | 15.3 mi | |
| 1992 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 160 | 46.3 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 160 | 41.5 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 123 | 23.6 mi | |
| 2005 | Debris and open burning | 120 | 48.5 mi | |
| 2014 | Arson/incendiarism | 108 | 30.8 mi | |
| 2008 | Debris and open burning | 100 | 39.6 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 96 | 43.6 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 | 56258 | 303 |
Six Minnesota cities with population within ±25% of Marshall. 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.