In 2025, fire departments serving Stewart responded to 12 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $1 building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 83% of all calls.
May peaks. Jan dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
37 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $122K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 5 | — | |
| 2022 | 6 | +20.0% | |
| 2023 | 5 | -16.7% | |
| 2024 | 9 | +80.0% | |
| 2025 | 12 | +33.3% |
For the 1 building fires Stewart departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 12 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 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 3 | 25.0% | |
| 2 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 2 | 16.7% | |
| 3 | Bathroom, checkroom, lavatory, locker room | 1 | 8.3% | |
| 4 | Storage: supplies or tools; dead storage | 1 | 8.3% | |
| 5 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 1 | 8.3% | |
| 6 | Attic: vacant, crawl space above top story, cupola | 1 | 8.3% | |
| 7 | Wildland, woods | 1 | 8.3% | |
| 8 | Vacant structural area | 1 | 8.3% | |
| 9 | Undetermined | 1 | 8.3% |
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 Stewart mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 3 | 25.0% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 3 | 25.0% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 2 | 16.7% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 1 | 8.3% | |
| 5 | Cigarette | 1 | 8.3% | |
| 6 | Match | 1 | 8.3% | |
| 7 | Radiated heat from another fire | 1 | 8.3% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Stewart departments in 2025. These 2 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $1 | Forest, woods or wildland fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $1 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Stewart sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 6,716 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,909 | 48.2 mi | |
| 2013 | Recreation and ceremony | 430 | 48.2 mi | |
| 2012 | Debris and open burning | 400 | 44.4 mi | |
| 1996 | Arson/incendiarism | 290 | 38.7 mi | |
| 1997 | Arson/incendiarism | 231 | 47.5 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 229 | 47.5 mi | |
| 2015 | Debris and open burning | 217 | 29.7 mi | |
| 2003 | Equipment and vehicle use | 200 | 29.2 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 180 | 4.0 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 150 | 38.1 mi | |
| 1998 | Debris and open burning | 150 | 48.5 mi | |
| 2020 | Arson/incendiarism | 130 | 48.5 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 | 55385 | 37 |
Six Minnesota cities with population within ±25% of Stewart. 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.