In 2025, fire departments serving Pierz responded to 15 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $250K 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 87% of all calls.
May peaks. Jul dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
91 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $2.5M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 18 | — | |
| 2022 | 15 | -16.7% | |
| 2023 | 19 | +26.7% | |
| 2024 | 24 | +26.3% | |
| 2025 | 15 | -37.5% |
For the 6 building fires Pierz departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 50 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 | 21 | 42.0% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 9 | 18.0% | |
| 3 | Cooking area, kitchen | 3 | 6.0% | |
| 4 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 2 | 4.0% | |
| 5 | Storage area, other | 2 | 4.0% | |
| 6 | Ceiling & floor assembly, crawl space b/t stories | 2 | 4.0% | |
| 7 | Entrance way, lobby | 1 | 2.0% | |
| 8 | Assembly or sales area, other | 1 | 2.0% | |
| 9 | Function area, other | 1 | 2.0% | |
| 10 | Bathroom, checkroom, lavatory, locker room | 1 | 2.0% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 7 | 14.0% |
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 Pierz mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 18 | 36.0% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 9 | 18.0% | |
| 3 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 6 | 12.0% | |
| 4 | Hot ember or ash | 4 | 8.0% | |
| 5 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 3 | 6.0% | |
| 6 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 2 | 4.0% | |
| 7 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 2 | 4.0% | |
| 8 | Flying brand, ember, spark | 2 | 4.0% | |
| 9 | Heat source: other | 1 | 2.0% | |
| 10 | Arcing | 1 | 2.0% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 2 | 4.0% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Pierz departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 99% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $250,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $150,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $150,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $50,000 | Fires in structures other than in a building | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $10,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $10,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $5,000 | Chimney or flue fire, confined to chimney or flue | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $5,000 | Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Pierz sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 19,525 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1992 | Debris and open burning | 1,737 | 9.0 mi | |
| 2015 | Equipment and vehicle use | 1,725 | 46.2 mi | |
| 1996 | Recreation and ceremony | 1,460 | 27.5 mi | |
| 1996 | Debris and open burning | 1,299 | 41.2 mi | |
| 2002 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,260 | 24.5 mi | |
| 2003 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,250 | 7.8 mi | |
| 1992 | Arson/incendiarism | 830 | 4.6 mi | |
| 1998 | Arson/incendiarism | 750 | 5.1 mi | |
| 2004 | Debris and open burning | 710 | 9.0 mi | |
| 1999 | Equipment and vehicle use | 700 | 48.2 mi | |
| 1993 | Arson/incendiarism | 680 | 9.4 mi | |
| 2006 | Arson/incendiarism | 663 | 12.2 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 | 56364 | 91 |
Six Minnesota cities with population within ±25% of Pierz. 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.