In 2025, fire departments serving Thief River Falls responded to 79 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $489K 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 60% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Feb dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
406 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $3.2M cumulative property loss. 2 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 78 | — | |
| 2022 | 70 | -10.3% | |
| 2023 | 104 | +48.6% | |
| 2024 | 75 | -27.9% | |
| 2025 | 79 | +5.3% |
For the 16 building fires Thief River Falls departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 150 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 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 30 | 20.0% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 18 | 12.0% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 15 | 10.0% | |
| 4 | Cooking area, kitchen | 7 | 4.7% | |
| 5 | Attic: vacant, crawl space above top story, cupola | 7 | 4.7% | |
| 6 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 6 | 4.0% | |
| 7 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 6 | 4.0% | |
| 8 | Wall surface: exterior | 5 | 3.3% | |
| 9 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 5 | 3.3% | |
| 10 | Undetermined | 5 | 3.3% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 46 | 30.7% |
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 Thief River Falls mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 47 | 31.3% | |
| 2 | Hot ember or ash | 23 | 15.3% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 16 | 10.7% | |
| 4 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 12 | 8.0% | |
| 5 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 11 | 7.3% | |
| 6 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 6 | 4.0% | |
| 7 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 6 | 4.0% | |
| 8 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 5 | 3.3% | |
| 9 | Heat source: other | 3 | 2.0% | |
| 10 | Cigarette | 3 | 2.0% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 18 | 12.0% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Thief River Falls departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 98% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $489,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $138,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $63,750 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $60,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $55,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $30,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $10,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $10,000 | Fire in mobile home used as fixed residence | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Thief River Falls sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 221,165 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | Debris and open burning | 38,753 | 29.9 mi | |
| 2011 | Debris and open burning | 28,810 | 49.6 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 25,396 | 44.6 mi | |
| 2003 | Debris and open burning | 19,782 | 42.6 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 13,820 | 29.7 mi | |
| 1994 | Arson/incendiarism | 11,420 | 31.3 mi | |
| 2002 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 8,480 | 38.8 mi | |
| 2002 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 7,455 | 38.0 mi | |
| 1998 | Debris and open burning | 6,000 | 40.5 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 5,700 | 48.4 mi | |
| 2007 | Debris and open burning | 5,157 | 39.1 mi | |
| 2000 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 5,120 | 38.4 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 | 56701 | 406 |
Six Minnesota cities with population within ±25% of Thief River Falls. 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.