In 2025, fire departments serving Starbuck responded to 23 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $1 building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Arcing, shorted electrical equipment lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 74% of all calls.
Apr peaks. Jan dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
87 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $1.3M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 15 | — | |
| 2022 | 18 | +20.0% | |
| 2023 | 14 | -22.2% | |
| 2024 | 17 | +21.4% | |
| 2025 | 23 | +35.3% |
For the 3 building fires Starbuck departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 23 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 | 47.8% | |
| 2 | Storage area, other | 2 | 8.7% | |
| 3 | Vehicle area, other | 2 | 8.7% | |
| 4 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 2 | 8.7% | |
| 5 | Cooking area, kitchen | 1 | 4.3% | |
| 6 | Wall surface: exterior | 1 | 4.3% | |
| 7 | Fuel tank, fuel line | 1 | 4.3% | |
| 8 | Outside area, other | 1 | 4.3% | |
| 9 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 1 | 4.3% | |
| 10 | Vacant structural area | 1 | 4.3% |
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 Starbuck mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 13 | 56.5% | |
| 2 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 3 | 13.0% | |
| 3 | Heat source: other | 1 | 4.3% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 1 | 4.3% | |
| 5 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 4.3% | |
| 6 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 1 | 4.3% | |
| 7 | Hot ember or ash | 1 | 4.3% | |
| 8 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 1 | 4.3% | |
| 9 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 1 | 4.3% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Starbuck departments in 2025. These 1 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $1 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Starbuck sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 19,807 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | Arson/incendiarism | 7,330 | 42.6 mi | |
| 2003 | Debris and open burning | 3,191 | 39.9 mi | |
| 2004 | Debris and open burning | 1,149 | 46.2 mi | |
| 2000 | Debris and open burning | 847 | 17.2 mi | |
| 1992 | Debris and open burning | 620 | 48.8 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 590 | 37.2 mi | |
| 2003 | Equipment and vehicle use | 470 | 45.1 mi | |
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 440 | 47.1 mi | |
| 2013 | Recreation and ceremony | 430 | 31.8 mi | |
| 1992 | Debris and open burning | 404 | 9.0 mi | |
| 1992 | Debris and open burning | 360 | 50.0 mi | |
| 2004 | Natural | 354 | 49.6 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 | 56381 | 87 |
Six Minnesota cities with population within ±25% of Starbuck. 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.