In 2025, fire departments serving Waterville responded to 16 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $50K 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 87% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Jun dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
60 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $1.6M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 11 | — | |
| 2022 | 16 | +45.5% | |
| 2023* | 2 | — | |
| 2024 | 15 | — | |
| 2025 | 16 | +6.7% |
* Well below Waterville's usual volume. That almost always means one or more departments didn't submit a full year to NFIRS, not that fires dropped, so no year-over-year change is shown for it.
For the 5 building fires Waterville departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 13 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 | 4 | 30.8% | |
| 2 | Cooking area, kitchen | 1 | 7.7% | |
| 3 | Storage: supplies or tools; dead storage | 1 | 7.7% | |
| 4 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 1 | 7.7% | |
| 5 | Light shaft | 1 | 7.7% | |
| 6 | Attic: vacant, crawl space above top story, cupola | 1 | 7.7% | |
| 7 | Wall surface: exterior | 1 | 7.7% | |
| 8 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 1 | 7.7% | |
| 9 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 1 | 7.7% | |
| 10 | Outside area, other | 1 | 7.7% |
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 Waterville mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 4 | 30.8% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 2 | 15.4% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 2 | 15.4% | |
| 4 | Heat source: other | 1 | 7.7% | |
| 5 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 7.7% | |
| 6 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 1 | 7.7% | |
| 7 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 1 | 7.7% | |
| 8 | Cigarette | 1 | 7.7% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Waterville departments in 2025. These 5 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $15,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $12,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $10,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $5,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Waterville sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 7,008 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 | 10.5 mi | |
| 2004 | Recreation and ceremony | 1,000 | 45.0 mi | |
| 2012 | Debris and open burning | 400 | 12.4 mi | |
| 1996 | Arson/incendiarism | 290 | 18.7 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 225 | 10.6 mi | |
| 1995 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 200 | 43.0 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 200 | 48.0 mi | |
| 2003 | Equipment and vehicle use | 200 | 39.0 mi | |
| 2000 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 180 | 39.9 mi | |
| 2000 | Debris and open burning | 177 | 36.5 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 150 | 31.4 mi | |
| 2009 | Debris and open burning | 144 | 38.9 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 | 56096 | 60 |
Six Minnesota cities with population within ±25% of Waterville. 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.