In 2025, fire departments serving Rush City responded to 32 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $200K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Grass fire lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 81% of all calls.
Apr peaks. Feb dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
145 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2021. $1.3M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 44 | — | |
| 2022 | 27 | -38.6% | |
| 2023* | 0 | — | |
| 2024 | 42 | — | |
| 2025 | 32 | -23.8% |
* Well below Rush City'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 5 building fires Rush City departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 38 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 | 13 | 34.2% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 6 | 15.8% | |
| 3 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 2 | 5.3% | |
| 4 | Heating room or area, water heater area | 2 | 5.3% | |
| 5 | Vehicle area, other | 2 | 5.3% | |
| 6 | Egress/exit, other | 1 | 2.6% | |
| 7 | Function area, other | 1 | 2.6% | |
| 8 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 1 | 2.6% | |
| 9 | Storage area, other | 1 | 2.6% | |
| 10 | Closet | 1 | 2.6% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 8 | 21.1% |
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 Rush City mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 19 | 50.0% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 5 | 13.2% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 3 | 7.9% | |
| 4 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 3 | 7.9% | |
| 5 | Heat, spark from friction | 2 | 5.3% | |
| 6 | Hot ember or ash | 2 | 5.3% | |
| 7 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 2.6% | |
| 8 | Arcing | 1 | 2.6% | |
| 9 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 1 | 2.6% | |
| 10 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 1 | 2.6% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Rush City departments in 2025. These 3 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $200,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $10,000 | Self-propelled motor home or recreational vehicle | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $6,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Rush City sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 23,267 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 | 27.0 mi | |
| 2009 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,550 | 28.6 mi | |
| 1996 | Recreation and ceremony | 1,460 | 35.0 mi | |
| 2000 | Debris and open burning | 1,350 | 32.8 mi | |
| 1996 | Debris and open burning | 1,299 | 37.3 mi | |
| 2004 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 835 | 11.4 mi | |
| 1999 | Equipment and vehicle use | 700 | 39.4 mi | |
| 2013 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 656 | 19.9 mi | |
| 1993 | Arson/incendiarism | 640 | 42.1 mi | |
| 1998 | Arson/incendiarism | 488 | 48.0 mi | |
| 1993 | Arson/incendiarism | 423 | 46.9 mi | |
| 2000 | Smoking | 420 | 22.9 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 | 55069 | 145 |
Six Minnesota cities with population within ±25% of Rush City. 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.