In 2025, fire departments serving North Mankato responded to 37 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $220K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Power line down lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 62% of all calls.
Jun peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
214 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2021. $2.4M cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 62 | — | |
| 2022* | 7 | — | |
| 2023 | 60 | — | |
| 2024 | 48 | -20.0% | |
| 2025 | 37 | -22.9% |
* Well below North Mankato'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 North Mankato departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 76 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 | 15 | 19.7% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 12 | 15.8% | |
| 3 | Cooking area, kitchen | 8 | 10.5% | |
| 4 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 5 | 6.6% | |
| 5 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 4 | 5.3% | |
| 6 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 3 | 3.9% | |
| 7 | Attic: vacant, crawl space above top story, cupola | 3 | 3.9% | |
| 8 | Cargo/trunk area - all vehicles | 3 | 3.9% | |
| 9 | Courtyard, patio, porch, terrace | 3 | 3.9% | |
| 10 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 2 | 2.6% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 18 | 23.7% |
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 North Mankato mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 43 | 56.6% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 12 | 15.8% | |
| 3 | Radiated heat from another fire | 4 | 5.3% | |
| 4 | Cigarette lighter | 3 | 3.9% | |
| 5 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 2 | 2.6% | |
| 6 | Arcing | 2 | 2.6% | |
| 7 | Hot ember or ash | 2 | 2.6% | |
| 8 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 2 | 2.6% | |
| 9 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 1 | 1.3% | |
| 10 | Heat, spark from friction | 1 | 1.3% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 4 | 5.3% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by North Mankato departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $220,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $175,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $130,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $130,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $8,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $7,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $5,000 | Trash or rubbish fire, contained | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $500 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. North Mankato sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 5,479 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 | 13.2 mi | |
| 2012 | Debris and open burning | 400 | 15.8 mi | |
| 1996 | Arson/incendiarism | 290 | 12.2 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 225 | 31.2 mi | |
| 2003 | Equipment and vehicle use | 200 | 39.4 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 180 | 46.0 mi | |
| 2000 | Debris and open burning | 177 | 45.3 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 150 | 8.6 mi | |
| 2007 | Debris and open burning | 100 | 43.6 mi | |
| 2010 | Recreation and ceremony | 85 | 48.1 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 75 | 27.4 mi | |
| 2011 | Equipment and vehicle use | 61 | 36.5 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 | 56003 | 214 |
Six Minnesota cities with population within ±25% of North Mankato. 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.