In 2025, fire departments serving Sartell responded to 65 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $100K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 65% of all calls.
May peaks. Jan dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
226 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $334K cumulative property loss. 2 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 54 | — | |
| 2022 | 58 | +7.4% | |
| 2023 | 46 | -20.7% | |
| 2024* | 3 | — | |
| 2025 | 65 | — |
* Well below Sartell'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 7 building fires Sartell departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 34 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 | Outside area, other | 5 | 14.7% | |
| 2 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 4 | 11.8% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 4 | 11.8% | |
| 4 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 3 | 8.8% | |
| 5 | Vehicle area, other | 3 | 8.8% | |
| 6 | Undetermined | 3 | 8.8% | |
| 7 | Entrance way, lobby | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 8 | Bathroom, checkroom, lavatory, locker room | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 9 | Processing/manufacturing area, workroom | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 10 | Storage room, area, tank, or bin | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 8 | 23.5% |
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 Sartell mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 12 | 35.3% | |
| 2 | Heat source: other | 4 | 11.8% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 4 | 11.8% | |
| 4 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 3 | 8.8% | |
| 5 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 2 | 5.9% | |
| 6 | Cigarette | 2 | 5.9% | |
| 7 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 8 | Arcing | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 9 | Explosive, fireworks, other | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 10 | Chemical, natural heat source, other | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 3 | 8.8% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Sartell departments in 2025. These 6 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $15,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $3,000 | Outside storage fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $2,500 | Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $1,000 | Fire in portable building, fixed location | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $500 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Sartell sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 17,535 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1992 | Debris and open burning | 1,737 | 21.2 mi | |
| 1996 | Recreation and ceremony | 1,460 | 42.8 mi | |
| 1996 | Debris and open burning | 1,299 | 28.9 mi | |
| 2002 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,260 | 48.1 mi | |
| 2003 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,250 | 24.9 mi | |
| 1992 | Arson/incendiarism | 830 | 23.0 mi | |
| 1998 | Arson/incendiarism | 750 | 23.1 mi | |
| 2004 | Debris and open burning | 710 | 22.6 mi | |
| 1993 | Arson/incendiarism | 680 | 25.3 mi | |
| 2006 | Arson/incendiarism | 663 | 37.6 mi | |
| 1993 | Arson/incendiarism | 640 | 27.0 mi | |
| 1992 | Debris and open burning | 620 | 26.9 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 | 56377 | 226 |
Six Minnesota cities with population within ±25% of Sartell. 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.