In 2025, fire departments serving Renville responded to 29 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $25K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Prescribed fire lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 69% of all calls.
Apr peaks. Feb dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
131 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $3.9M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 21 | — | |
| 2022 | 20 | -4.8% | |
| 2023 | 54 | +170.0% | |
| 2024* | 7 | — | |
| 2025 | 29 | — |
* Well below Renville'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 4 building fires Renville 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 | 16 | 32.0% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 5 | 10.0% | |
| 3 | Storage room, area, tank, or bin | 4 | 8.0% | |
| 4 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 3 | 6.0% | |
| 5 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 2 | 4.0% | |
| 6 | Equipment or service area, other | 2 | 4.0% | |
| 7 | Railroad right of way: on or near | 2 | 4.0% | |
| 8 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 2 | 4.0% | |
| 9 | Other | 1 | 2.0% | |
| 10 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 1 | 2.0% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 12 | 24.0% |
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 Renville mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 18 | 36.0% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 6 | 12.0% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 4 | 8.0% | |
| 4 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 4 | 8.0% | |
| 5 | Chemical reaction | 4 | 8.0% | |
| 6 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 3 | 6.0% | |
| 7 | Heat, spark from friction | 2 | 4.0% | |
| 8 | Hot ember or ash | 2 | 4.0% | |
| 9 | Cigarette lighter | 2 | 4.0% | |
| 10 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 2 | 4.0% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 3 | 6.0% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Renville departments in 2025. These 6 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $25,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $1,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $1,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $500 | Fires in structures other than in a building | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $200 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $1 | Fires in structures other than in a building | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Renville sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 8,104 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | Debris and open burning | 3,191 | 44.6 mi | |
| 2000 | Debris and open burning | 847 | 41.9 mi | |
| 2013 | Recreation and ceremony | 430 | 30.4 mi | |
| 1992 | Debris and open burning | 404 | 50.0 mi | |
| 2012 | Equipment and vehicle use | 264 | 44.7 mi | |
| 2003 | Debris and open burning | 252 | 45.8 mi | |
| 2002 | Arson/incendiarism | 240 | 40.6 mi | |
| 1997 | Arson/incendiarism | 231 | 35.4 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 229 | 35.4 mi | |
| 2015 | Debris and open burning | 217 | 40.5 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 180 | 36.8 mi | |
| 2012 | Equipment and vehicle use | 170 | 36.8 mi |
Top 2 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 Renville. 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.