In 2025, fire departments serving Vadnais Heights responded to 93 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $181K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 68% of all calls.
Jul peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
446 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $2.1M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 70 | — | |
| 2022 | 83 | +18.6% | |
| 2023 | 91 | +9.6% | |
| 2024 | 109 | +19.8% | |
| 2025 | 93 | -14.7% |
For the 10 building fires Vadnais Heights departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 51 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 | 14 | 27.5% | |
| 2 | Cooking area, kitchen | 9 | 17.6% | |
| 3 | Undetermined | 6 | 11.8% | |
| 4 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 3 | 5.9% | |
| 5 | Outside area, other | 2 | 3.9% | |
| 6 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 2 | 3.9% | |
| 7 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 2 | 3.9% | |
| 8 | Wildland, woods | 2 | 3.9% | |
| 9 | Interior stairway or ramp | 1 | 2.0% | |
| 10 | Function area, other | 1 | 2.0% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 9 | 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 Vadnais Heights mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 21 | 41.2% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 11 | 21.6% | |
| 3 | Heat source: other | 4 | 7.8% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 3 | 5.9% | |
| 5 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 2 | 3.9% | |
| 6 | Heat, spark from friction | 2 | 3.9% | |
| 7 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 2 | 3.9% | |
| 8 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 1 | 2.0% | |
| 9 | Hot ember or ash | 1 | 2.0% | |
| 10 | Candle | 1 | 2.0% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 3 | 5.9% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Vadnais Heights departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $181,200 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $48,320 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $25,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $25,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $2,500 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $1,000 | Outside rubbish, trash or waste fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $1,000 | Outside rubbish, trash or waste fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $800 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Vadnais Heights sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 18,052 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 | 17.9 mi | |
| 2009 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,550 | 16.0 mi | |
| 1996 | Debris and open burning | 1,299 | 40.2 mi | |
| 2004 | Recreation and ceremony | 1,000 | 17.6 mi | |
| 2000 | Smoking | 420 | 23.2 mi | |
| 2010 | Equipment and vehicle use | 336 | 19.1 mi | |
| 1995 | Debris and open burning | 320 | 45.4 mi | |
| 1999 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 306 | 17.9 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 280 | 45.8 mi | |
| 2005 | Debris and open burning | 260 | 22.5 mi | |
| 2004 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 250 | 9.4 mi | |
| 2007 | Recreation and ceremony | 248 | 19.5 mi |
Top 5 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
Six Minnesota cities with population within ±25% of Vadnais Heights. 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.