In 2025, fire departments serving Shafer responded to 18 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $1.2M 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 94% of all calls.
Feb peaks. Jan dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
66 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $1.6M cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 12 | — | |
| 2022 | 16 | +33.3% | |
| 2023 | 12 | -25.0% | |
| 2024 | 8 | -33.3% | |
| 2025 | 18 | +125.0% |
For the 11 building fires Shafer departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 22 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 | 7 | 31.8% | |
| 2 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 3 | 13.6% | |
| 3 | Storage room, area, tank, or bin | 2 | 9.1% | |
| 4 | Cooking area, kitchen | 1 | 4.5% | |
| 5 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 1 | 4.5% | |
| 6 | Storage area, other | 1 | 4.5% | |
| 7 | Storage: supplies or tools; dead storage | 1 | 4.5% | |
| 8 | Heating room or area, water heater area | 1 | 4.5% | |
| 9 | Substructure area or space, crawl space | 1 | 4.5% | |
| 10 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 1 | 4.5% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 3 | 13.6% |
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 Shafer mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 14 | 63.6% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 3 | 13.6% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 2 | 9.1% | |
| 4 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 4.5% | |
| 5 | Chemical reaction | 1 | 4.5% | |
| 6 | Conducted heat from another fire | 1 | 4.5% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Shafer departments in 2025. These 3 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $1,200,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $150,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Shafer sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 20,985 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 | 19.1 mi | |
| 2009 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,550 | 18.9 mi | |
| 2000 | Debris and open burning | 1,350 | 44.6 mi | |
| 1996 | Debris and open burning | 1,299 | 44.6 mi | |
| 2004 | Recreation and ceremony | 1,000 | 45.3 mi | |
| 2004 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 835 | 34.0 mi | |
| 2013 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 656 | 32.9 mi | |
| 2000 | Smoking | 420 | 20.0 mi | |
| 2004 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 358 | 38.6 mi | |
| 2010 | Equipment and vehicle use | 336 | 26.4 mi | |
| 2004 | Arson/incendiarism | 335 | 42.8 mi | |
| 1999 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 306 | 27.6 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 | 55074 | 66 |
Six Minnesota cities with population within ±25% of Shafer. 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.