In 2025, fire departments serving Morgan responded to 15 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $185K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Grass fire lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 80% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Jan dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
39 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $597K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 4 | — | |
| 2022 | 5 | — | |
| 2023 | 6 | +20.0% | |
| 2024 | 9 | +50.0% | |
| 2025 | 15 | +66.7% |
* Well below Morgan'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 2 building fires Morgan departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 14 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 | 4 | 28.6% | |
| 2 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 3 | 21.4% | |
| 3 | Entrance way, lobby | 1 | 7.1% | |
| 4 | Storage: supplies or tools; dead storage | 1 | 7.1% | |
| 5 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 1 | 7.1% | |
| 6 | Attic: vacant, crawl space above top story, cupola | 1 | 7.1% | |
| 7 | Vehicle area, other | 1 | 7.1% | |
| 8 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 1 | 7.1% | |
| 9 | Outside area, other | 1 | 7.1% |
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 Morgan mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 6 | 42.9% | |
| 2 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 2 | 14.3% | |
| 3 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 2 | 14.3% | |
| 4 | Heat source: other | 1 | 7.1% | |
| 5 | Cigarette | 1 | 7.1% | |
| 6 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 1 | 7.1% | |
| 7 | Radiated heat from another fire | 1 | 7.1% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Morgan departments in 2025. These 3 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $184,800 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $75,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $10,000 | Outside rubbish, trash or waste fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Morgan sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 1,908 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 180 | 34.0 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 150 | 38.2 mi | |
| 2000 | Debris and open burning | 127 | 40.5 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 124 | 43.2 mi | |
| 2009 | Debris and open burning | 113 | 43.0 mi | |
| 2014 | Arson/incendiarism | 108 | 27.1 mi | |
| 2001 | Debris and open burning | 105 | 49.1 mi | |
| 2000 | Debris and open burning | 96 | 39.5 mi | |
| 1994 | Debris and open burning | 95 | 32.3 mi | |
| 1993 | Debris and open burning | 75 | 44.8 mi | |
| 1992 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 65 | 40.5 mi | |
| 1997 | Debris and open burning | 63 | 43.1 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 | 56266 | 39 |
Six Minnesota cities with population within ±25% of Morgan. 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.