In 2025, fire departments serving Prior Lake responded to 104 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $40K 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 65% of all calls.
Jul peaks. Aug dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
649 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2021. $2.0M cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 162 | — | |
| 2022 | 131 | -19.1% | |
| 2023 | 146 | +11.5% | |
| 2024 | 106 | -27.4% | |
| 2025 | 104 | -1.9% |
For the 22 building fires Prior Lake departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 139 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 | 23 | 16.5% | |
| 2 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 21 | 15.1% | |
| 3 | Undetermined | 20 | 14.4% | |
| 4 | Wildland, woods | 12 | 8.6% | |
| 5 | Outside area, other | 9 | 6.5% | |
| 6 | Cooking area, kitchen | 8 | 5.8% | |
| 7 | Courtyard, patio, porch, terrace | 5 | 3.6% | |
| 8 | Other | 4 | 2.9% | |
| 9 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 4 | 2.9% | |
| 10 | Roof surface: exterior | 4 | 2.9% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 29 | 20.9% |
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 Prior Lake mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 59 | 42.4% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 11 | 7.9% | |
| 3 | Hot ember or ash | 10 | 7.2% | |
| 4 | Fireworks | 8 | 5.8% | |
| 5 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 7 | 5.0% | |
| 6 | Arcing | 6 | 4.3% | |
| 7 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 6 | 4.3% | |
| 8 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 5 | 3.6% | |
| 9 | Radiated heat from another fire | 5 | 3.6% | |
| 10 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 4 | 2.9% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 18 | 12.9% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Prior Lake departments in 2025. These 4 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $40,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $5,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $5,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $1,000 | Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Prior Lake sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 19,681 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 | 43.4 mi | |
| 2006 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,909 | 37.7 mi | |
| 2009 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,550 | 42.0 mi | |
| 2004 | Recreation and ceremony | 1,000 | 12.7 mi | |
| 2000 | Smoking | 420 | 47.7 mi | |
| 2012 | Debris and open burning | 400 | 32.6 mi | |
| 2010 | Equipment and vehicle use | 336 | 40.1 mi | |
| 1999 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 306 | 38.1 mi | |
| 1996 | Arson/incendiarism | 290 | 35.7 mi | |
| 2005 | Debris and open burning | 260 | 45.7 mi | |
| 2004 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 250 | 31.9 mi | |
| 2007 | Recreation and ceremony | 248 | 46.0 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 Prior Lake. 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.