In 2025, fire departments serving Sandstone responded to 33 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $200K 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 79% of all calls.
Apr peaks. Jan dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
106 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $1.2M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 14 | — | |
| 2022 | 35 | +150.0% | |
| 2023 | 17 | -51.4% | |
| 2024* | 7 | — | |
| 2025 | 33 | — |
* Well below Sandstone'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 8 building fires Sandstone departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
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 origin | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 8 | 26.7% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 5 | 16.7% | |
| 3 | Cooking area, kitchen | 4 | 13.3% | |
| 4 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 3 | 10.0% | |
| 5 | Vehicle area, other | 2 | 6.7% | |
| 6 | Egress/exit, other | 1 | 3.3% | |
| 7 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 1 | 3.3% | |
| 8 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 1 | 3.3% | |
| 9 | Bathroom, checkroom, lavatory, locker room | 1 | 3.3% | |
| 10 | Duct: hvac, cable, exhaust, heating, or AC | 1 | 3.3% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 3 | 10.0% |
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 Sandstone mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 11 | 36.7% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 5 | 16.7% | |
| 3 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 3 | 10.0% | |
| 4 | Heat source: other | 2 | 6.7% | |
| 5 | Arcing | 2 | 6.7% | |
| 6 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 1 | 3.3% | |
| 7 | Heat, spark from friction | 1 | 3.3% | |
| 8 | Hot ember or ash | 1 | 3.3% | |
| 9 | Incendiary device | 1 | 3.3% | |
| 10 | Cigarette | 1 | 3.3% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 2 | 6.7% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Sandstone departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 96% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $200,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $30,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $30,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $25,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $10,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $10,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $8,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Sandstone sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 15,159 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 3,200 | 42.6 mi | |
| 1996 | Recreation and ceremony | 1,460 | 33.0 mi | |
| 2000 | Debris and open burning | 1,350 | 21.6 mi | |
| 1997 | Arson/incendiarism | 930 | 38.2 mi | |
| 2004 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 835 | 25.9 mi | |
| 1999 | Equipment and vehicle use | 700 | 16.4 mi | |
| 2013 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 656 | 21.7 mi | |
| 1993 | Arson/incendiarism | 640 | 48.1 mi | |
| 1997 | Debris and open burning | 640 | 36.4 mi | |
| 2007 | Equipment and vehicle use | 487 | 42.0 mi | |
| 1993 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 410 | 39.7 mi | |
| 2004 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 358 | 20.1 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 | 55072 | 106 |
Six Minnesota cities with population within ±25% of Sandstone. 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.