In 2025, fire departments serving Spring Valley responded to 21 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 86% of all calls.
Jan peaks. Mar dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
78 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $1.7M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 5 | — | |
| 2022 | 13 | — | |
| 2023 | 23 | +76.9% | |
| 2024 | 16 | -30.4% | |
| 2025 | 21 | +31.2% |
* Well below Spring Valley'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 Spring Valley 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 | Undetermined | 11 | 32.4% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 6 | 17.6% | |
| 3 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 2 | 5.9% | |
| 4 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 2 | 5.9% | |
| 5 | Wall surface: exterior | 2 | 5.9% | |
| 6 | Corridor, mall | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 7 | Interior stairway or ramp | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 8 | Dining room, cafeteria bar area, beverage service | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 9 | Cooking area, kitchen | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 10 | Storage room, area, tank, or bin | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 6 | 17.6% |
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 Spring Valley mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 14 | 41.2% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 6 | 17.6% | |
| 3 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 2 | 5.9% | |
| 4 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 2 | 5.9% | |
| 5 | Hot ember or ash | 2 | 5.9% | |
| 6 | Cigarette lighter | 2 | 5.9% | |
| 7 | Flying brand, ember, spark | 2 | 5.9% | |
| 8 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 9 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 10 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 1 | 2.9% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Spring Valley departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 99% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $200,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $200,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $60,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $25,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $15,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $15,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $5,500 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $3,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Spring Valley sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 2,271 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | Debris and open burning | 300 | 47.1 mi | |
| 1998 | Arson/incendiarism | 295 | 45.7 mi | |
| 2018 | Debris and open burning | 150 | 40.8 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 120 | 45.2 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 100 | 42.5 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 100 | 44.0 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 85 | 43.5 mi | |
| 1993 | Arson/incendiarism | 83 | 45.9 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 80 | 25.8 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 80 | 38.9 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 70 | 45.5 mi | |
| 2020 | Debris and open burning | 65 | 47.3 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 | 55975 | 78 |
Six Minnesota cities with population within ±25% of Spring Valley. 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.