In 2025, fire departments serving Watkins responded to 10 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $500K 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 100% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Apr dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
34 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $1.0M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 8 | — | |
| 2022 | 7 | -12.5% | |
| 2023* | 2 | — | |
| 2024 | 7 | — | |
| 2025 | 10 | +42.9% |
* Well below Watkins'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 8 building fires Watkins 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 | 7 | 53.8% | |
| 2 | Exterior stairway, ramp, or fire escape | 1 | 7.7% | |
| 3 | Storage area, other | 1 | 7.7% | |
| 4 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 1 | 7.7% | |
| 5 | Attic: vacant, crawl space above top story, cupola | 1 | 7.7% | |
| 6 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 1 | 7.7% | |
| 7 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 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 Watkins mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 9 | 69.2% | |
| 2 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 7.7% | |
| 3 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 1 | 7.7% | |
| 4 | Hot ember or ash | 1 | 7.7% | |
| 5 | Lightning | 1 | 7.7% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Watkins departments in 2025. These 7 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $500,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $200,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $10,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $5,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $1,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $1 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $1 | Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Watkins sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 15,182 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 | 44.0 mi | |
| 1996 | Debris and open burning | 1,299 | 37.6 mi | |
| 2003 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,250 | 47.7 mi | |
| 1992 | Arson/incendiarism | 830 | 45.2 mi | |
| 1998 | Arson/incendiarism | 750 | 45.2 mi | |
| 2004 | Debris and open burning | 710 | 45.4 mi | |
| 1993 | Arson/incendiarism | 680 | 48.0 mi | |
| 1993 | Arson/incendiarism | 640 | 48.7 mi | |
| 1992 | Debris and open burning | 620 | 41.4 mi | |
| 1992 | Arson/incendiarism | 600 | 47.1 mi | |
| 2004 | Debris and open burning | 520 | 47.1 mi | |
| 1998 | Arson/incendiarism | 488 | 49.6 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 | 55389 | 34 |
Six Minnesota cities with population within ±25% of Watkins. 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.