In 2025, fire departments serving New Prague responded to 23 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $20K 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 70% of all calls.
Feb peaks. Apr dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
184 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2021. $1.8M cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 62 | — | |
| 2022 | 52 | -16.1% | |
| 2023 | 47 | -9.6% | |
| 2024* | 0 | — | |
| 2025 | 23 | — |
* Well below New Prague'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 1 building fires New Prague departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 34 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 | 10 | 29.4% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 8 | 23.5% | |
| 3 | Wall surface: exterior | 3 | 8.8% | |
| 4 | Outside area, other | 2 | 5.9% | |
| 5 | Bedroom - 5+ persons; including barrack/dormitory | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 6 | Storage area, other | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 7 | Storage: supplies or tools; dead storage | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 8 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 9 | Duct: hvac, cable, exhaust, heating, or AC | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 10 | Equipment or service area, other | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 5 | 14.7% |
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 New Prague mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 21 | 61.8% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 3 | 8.8% | |
| 3 | Cigarette | 2 | 5.9% | |
| 4 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 2 | 5.9% | |
| 5 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 6 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 7 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 8 | Cigarette lighter | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 9 | Lightning | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 10 | Flying brand, ember, spark | 1 | 2.9% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by New Prague departments in 2025. These 3 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $20,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $1,500 | Fires in structures other than in a building | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $300 | Cooking fire, confined to container | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. New Prague sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 7,742 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,909 | 23.7 mi | |
| 2004 | Recreation and ceremony | 1,000 | 25.9 mi | |
| 2012 | Debris and open burning | 400 | 18.7 mi | |
| 1996 | Arson/incendiarism | 290 | 22.3 mi | |
| 2004 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 250 | 45.8 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 225 | 14.8 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 217 | 46.7 mi | |
| 1995 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 200 | 23.4 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 200 | 29.1 mi | |
| 2003 | Equipment and vehicle use | 200 | 20.6 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 180 | 46.1 mi | |
| 2000 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 180 | 18.8 mi |
Top 3 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 New Prague. 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.