In 2025, fire departments serving Wabasha responded to 17 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $1.8M 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 82% of all calls.
Jan peaks. Feb dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
99 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $2.2M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 12 | — | |
| 2022 | 22 | +83.3% | |
| 2023 | 28 | +27.3% | |
| 2024 | 20 | -28.6% | |
| 2025 | 17 | -15.0% |
For the 4 building fires Wabasha departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 26 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 | 9 | 34.6% | |
| 2 | Other | 3 | 11.5% | |
| 3 | Bathroom, checkroom, lavatory, locker room | 2 | 7.7% | |
| 4 | Corridor, mall | 1 | 3.8% | |
| 5 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 1 | 3.8% | |
| 6 | Cooking area, kitchen | 1 | 3.8% | |
| 7 | Storage area, other | 1 | 3.8% | |
| 8 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 1 | 3.8% | |
| 9 | Equipment or service area, other | 1 | 3.8% | |
| 10 | Maintenance shop or area, paint shop or area | 1 | 3.8% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 5 | 19.2% |
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 Wabasha mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 9 | 34.6% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 7 | 26.9% | |
| 3 | Heat source: other | 6 | 23.1% | |
| 4 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 3.8% | |
| 5 | Arcing | 1 | 3.8% | |
| 6 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 1 | 3.8% | |
| 7 | Cigarette | 1 | 3.8% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Wabasha departments in 2025. These 4 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $1,836,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $8,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $5,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $2,000 | Chimney or flue fire, confined to chimney or flue | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Wabasha sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 3,630 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,200 | 34.8 mi | |
| 2009 | Fireworks | 390 | 36.7 mi | |
| 2000 | Debris and open burning | 360 | 45.8 mi | |
| 1998 | Arson/incendiarism | 295 | 9.3 mi | |
| 2003 | Debris and open burning | 148 | 44.6 mi | |
| 2018 | Debris and open burning | 124 | 32.5 mi | |
| 2018 | Debris and open burning | 122 | 33.8 mi | |
| 2000 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 83 | 8.2 mi | |
| 1993 | Arson/incendiarism | 83 | 9.8 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 70 | 47.0 mi | |
| 1993 | Debris and open burning | 65 | 32.2 mi | |
| 2018 | Debris and open burning | 60 | 40.0 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 | 55981 | 99 |
Six Minnesota cities with population within ±25% of Wabasha. 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.