In 2025, fire departments serving Princeton responded to 50 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $400K 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 76% of all calls.
Apr peaks. Jan dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
368 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2021. $4.3M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 88 | — | |
| 2022 | 81 | -8.0% | |
| 2023 | 78 | -3.7% | |
| 2024 | 71 | -9.0% | |
| 2025 | 50 | -29.6% |
For the 12 building fires Princeton departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 110 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 | 37 | 33.6% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 19 | 17.3% | |
| 3 | Wall surface: exterior | 9 | 8.2% | |
| 4 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 9 | 8.2% | |
| 5 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 6 | 5.5% | |
| 6 | Substructure area or space, crawl space | 4 | 3.6% | |
| 7 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 4 | 3.6% | |
| 8 | Attic: vacant, crawl space above top story, cupola | 3 | 2.7% | |
| 9 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 2 | 1.8% | |
| 10 | Processing/manufacturing area, workroom | 2 | 1.8% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 15 | 13.6% |
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 Princeton mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 68 | 61.8% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 8 | 7.3% | |
| 3 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 5 | 4.5% | |
| 4 | Hot ember or ash | 3 | 2.7% | |
| 5 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 2 | 1.8% | |
| 6 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 2 | 1.8% | |
| 7 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 2 | 1.8% | |
| 8 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 2 | 1.8% | |
| 9 | Chemical reaction | 2 | 1.8% | |
| 10 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 2 | 1.8% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 14 | 12.7% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Princeton departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 98% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $400,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $100,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $80,000 | Camper or recreational vehicle (RV) fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $75,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $30,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $25,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $10,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Princeton sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 27,196 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | Debris and open burning | 8,513 | 28.4 mi | |
| 2009 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,550 | 30.2 mi | |
| 1992 | Debris and open burning | 1,737 | 28.5 mi | |
| 1996 | Recreation and ceremony | 1,460 | 30.4 mi | |
| 1996 | Debris and open burning | 1,299 | 8.2 mi | |
| 2003 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,250 | 30.4 mi | |
| 2004 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 835 | 27.4 mi | |
| 1992 | Arson/incendiarism | 830 | 39.1 mi | |
| 1998 | Arson/incendiarism | 750 | 39.6 mi | |
| 2004 | Debris and open burning | 710 | 28.5 mi | |
| 1993 | Arson/incendiarism | 680 | 29.1 mi | |
| 2006 | Arson/incendiarism | 663 | 45.4 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 | 55371 | 368 |
Six Minnesota cities with population within ±25% of Princeton. 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.