In 2025, fire departments serving Roseau responded to 33 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 70% of all calls.
Apr peaks. Mar dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
143 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2021. $1.0M cumulative property loss. 2 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 55 | — | |
| 2022 | 18 | -67.3% | |
| 2023 | 22 | +22.2% | |
| 2024* | 15 | — | |
| 2025 | 33 | — |
* Well below Roseau'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 6 building fires Roseau departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 35 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 | 15 | 42.9% | |
| 2 | Cooking area, kitchen | 3 | 8.6% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 3 | 8.6% | |
| 4 | Bathroom, checkroom, lavatory, locker room | 2 | 5.7% | |
| 5 | Processing/manufacturing area, workroom | 2 | 5.7% | |
| 6 | Attic: vacant, crawl space above top story, cupola | 2 | 5.7% | |
| 7 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 8 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 9 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 10 | Equipment or service area, other | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 4 | 11.4% |
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 Roseau mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 14 | 40.0% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 8 | 22.9% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 4 | 11.4% | |
| 4 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 4 | 11.4% | |
| 5 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 6 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 7 | Heat, spark from friction | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 8 | Hot ember or ash | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 9 | Candle | 1 | 2.9% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Roseau departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 99% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $400,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $40,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $30,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $30,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $25,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $10,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $5,000 | Arcing, shorted electrical equipment | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Roseau sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 181,156 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Debris and open burning | 28,810 | 25.9 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 25,396 | 40.1 mi | |
| 2007 | Arson/incendiarism | 24,945 | 24.1 mi | |
| 2003 | Debris and open burning | 15,000 | 22.6 mi | |
| 2003 | Arson/incendiarism | 12,680 | 36.2 mi | |
| 1995 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 6,000 | 28.8 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 5,700 | 29.3 mi | |
| 1998 | Arson/incendiarism | 5,140 | 19.4 mi | |
| 2007 | Arson/incendiarism | 5,100 | 35.2 mi | |
| 2007 | Debris and open burning | 4,700 | 45.9 mi | |
| 2015 | Debris and open burning | 4,550 | 18.8 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 4,440 | 43.6 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 | 56751 | 143 |
Six Minnesota cities with population within ±25% of Roseau. 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.