In 2025, fire departments serving Waite Park responded to 111 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $6K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Cooking fire, confined to container lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 70% of all calls.
Aug peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
411 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $238K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 75 | — | |
| 2022 | 55 | -26.7% | |
| 2023 | 75 | +36.4% | |
| 2024 | 95 | +26.7% | |
| 2025 | 111 | +16.8% |
For the 9 building fires Waite Park departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 74 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 | 15 | 20.3% | |
| 2 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 14 | 18.9% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 8 | 10.8% | |
| 4 | Cooking area, kitchen | 6 | 8.1% | |
| 5 | Outside area, other | 6 | 8.1% | |
| 6 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 4 | 5.4% | |
| 7 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 3 | 4.1% | |
| 8 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 2 | 2.7% | |
| 9 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 2 | 2.7% | |
| 10 | Wildland, woods | 2 | 2.7% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 12 | 16.2% |
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 Waite Park mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 50 | 67.6% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 5 | 6.8% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 4 | 5.4% | |
| 4 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 4 | 5.4% | |
| 5 | Cigarette | 3 | 4.1% | |
| 6 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 2 | 2.7% | |
| 7 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 1.4% | |
| 8 | Molten, hot material | 1 | 1.4% | |
| 9 | Fireworks | 1 | 1.4% | |
| 10 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 1 | 1.4% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 2 | 2.7% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Waite Park departments in 2025. These 2 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $6,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $5,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Waite Park sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 16,705 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1992 | Debris and open burning | 1,737 | 27.2 mi | |
| 1996 | Recreation and ceremony | 1,460 | 47.9 mi | |
| 1996 | Debris and open burning | 1,299 | 28.8 mi | |
| 2003 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,250 | 30.9 mi | |
| 1992 | Arson/incendiarism | 830 | 29.1 mi | |
| 1998 | Arson/incendiarism | 750 | 29.2 mi | |
| 2004 | Debris and open burning | 710 | 28.6 mi | |
| 1993 | Arson/incendiarism | 680 | 31.2 mi | |
| 2006 | Arson/incendiarism | 663 | 43.8 mi | |
| 1993 | Arson/incendiarism | 640 | 32.3 mi | |
| 1992 | Debris and open burning | 620 | 30.6 mi | |
| 1992 | Arson/incendiarism | 600 | 30.4 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 | 56387 | 411 |
Six Minnesota cities with population within ±25% of Waite Park. 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.