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2025 Annual Fire Report

Fires in Proctor, Minnesota

In 2025, fire departments serving Proctor responded to 15 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $105K building blaze. Here's the full picture.

Updated Sep 27, 2026 Grade B+ Peak yr 2023 St. Louis County 3,113 residents 0 reporting departments 162 5-yr

Incomplete 2025 data. Proctor's departments reported 15 incidents to NFIRS for 2025, against about 32 in a typical year, so 2025 figures on this page undercount. The 2021–2025 totals are the better guide.

Total incidents
15
Not comparable with 2024 (incomplete reporting)
Building fires
2
Residential 50% Other 50%
Property loss
$300K
$220K structure · $80K contents
Deaths & injuries
0 / 1
0 civilian deaths · 0 civ injuries · 1 firefighter injuries
01 The mix

What kinds of fires happen here?

Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 80% of all calls.

15
Total Incidents
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) 3 20.0%
Power line down 3 20.0%
Building fires 2 13.3%
Cooking fire, confined to container 2 13.3%
Passenger vehicle fire 2 13.3%
All other categories 3 20.0%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen?

Feb peaks. Apr dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.

Jan 1
Feb 4
Mar 3
Apr 0
May 0
Jun 2
Jul 1
Aug 2
Sep 0
Oct 2
Nov 0
Dec 0
Fewer
More
2b Five-year trend

Year over year in Proctor

162 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $1.2M cumulative property loss.

YearIncidentsYoY 
2021 31 —
2022 24 -22.6%
2023 48 +100.0%
2024 44 -8.3%
2025* 15 —

* Well below Proctor'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.

03 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 2 building fires Proctor departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.

Unintentional
100%
3
Cause undetermined
0%
0
Intentional / arson
0%
0
Equipment / heat source failure
0%
0
Under investigation
0%
0
Act of nature (lightning)
0%
0
3b Where fires start

Where do fires start in Proctor?

NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 30 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 originCountShare 
1 Undetermined 15 50.0%
2 Engine area, running gear, wheel area 5 16.7%
3 Outside area, other 2 6.7%
4 Cooking area, kitchen 1 3.3%
5 Bathroom, checkroom, lavatory, locker room 1 3.3%
6 Shipping/receiving area; loading area, dock or bay 1 3.3%
7 Switchgear area, transformer vault 1 3.3%
8 Wall surface: exterior 1 3.3%
9 Roof surface: exterior 1 3.3%
10 Railroad right of way: on or near 1 3.3%
11 All other areas 1 3.3%
3c What ignited it

What actually ignited the fire?

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 Proctor mix.

#Heat sourceCountShare 
1 Undetermined 17 56.7%
2 Heat from other open flame or smoking materials 3 10.0%
3 Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment 2 6.7%
4 Heat source: other 1 3.3%
5 Heat from powered equipment, other 1 3.3%
6 Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment 1 3.3%
7 Hot or smoldering object, other 1 3.3%
8 Hot ember or ash 1 3.3%
9 Cigarette lighter 1 3.3%
10 Chemical reaction 1 3.3%
11 All other sources 1 3.3%
04 The biggest fires

3 fires · $220K in losses

Largest single-incident property losses reported by Proctor departments in 2025. These 3 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.

# Property loss Type Severity Status
1 $105,000 Building fires Significant Investigated
2 $100,000 Building fires Significant Investigated
3 $15,000 Passenger vehicle fire Significant Investigated
05 How Proctor compares

Proctor vs Minnesota vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Proctor sits below the national average for incidents per resident.

4.82
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Proctor
4.82
MN avg
7.36
US avg
7.48
0.64
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Proctor
0.64
MN avg
1.08
US avg
0.85
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
Proctor
0
MN avg
4.4
US avg
5.9
5c Wildfires nearby

Wildfires within 50 mi of Proctor

Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 13,707 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.

50 mi radius
YearCauseAcresDistance 
2013 Equipment and vehicle use 7,499 41.6 mi
1998 Railroad operations and maintenance 950 39.7 mi
2003 Railroad operations and maintenance 732 43.0 mi
2010 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 517 46.7 mi
2007 Equipment and vehicle use 487 14.4 mi
2000 Debris and open burning 350 41.5 mi
2000 Debris and open burning 275 48.0 mi
2002 Debris and open burning 270 45.8 mi
1998 Power generation/transmission/distribution 240 43.3 mi
2003 Railroad operations and maintenance 240 41.4 mi
1995 Arson/incendiarism 216 41.0 mi
2015 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 202 49.9 mi
5d Top ZIPs

Where in Proctor do fires concentrate?

Top 1 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.

#ZIP5-yr incidents 
1 55810 162
5e Peer cities

Cities similar to Proctor

Six Minnesota cities with population within ±25% of Proctor. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.

07 Stay prepared

Before the next Red Flag day.

A 30-minute weekend can cut your home's exposure substantially. These four checklists are a good starting point.

About this data

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.