In 2025, fire departments serving White Bear Lake responded to 161 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $250K 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 64% of all calls.
Jul peaks. Sep dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
837 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $1.5M cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 120 | — | |
| 2022 | 165 | +37.5% | |
| 2023 | 196 | +18.8% | |
| 2024 | 195 | -0.5% | |
| 2025 | 161 | -17.4% |
For the 27 building fires White Bear Lake departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 103 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 | 30 | 29.1% | |
| 2 | Cooking area, kitchen | 8 | 7.8% | |
| 3 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 6 | 5.8% | |
| 4 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 6 | 5.8% | |
| 5 | Undetermined | 6 | 5.8% | |
| 6 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 5 | 4.9% | |
| 7 | Outside area, other | 5 | 4.9% | |
| 8 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 3 | 2.9% | |
| 9 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 3 | 2.9% | |
| 10 | Wall surface: exterior | 3 | 2.9% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 28 | 27.2% |
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 White Bear Lake mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 32 | 31.1% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 14 | 13.6% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 12 | 11.7% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 8 | 7.8% | |
| 5 | Heat source: other | 6 | 5.8% | |
| 6 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 4 | 3.9% | |
| 7 | Cigarette | 4 | 3.9% | |
| 8 | Heat from undetermined smoking material | 4 | 3.9% | |
| 9 | Chemical reaction | 4 | 3.9% | |
| 10 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 3 | 2.9% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 12 | 11.7% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by White Bear Lake departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $250,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $15,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $15,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $10,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $5,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $4,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $2,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $1,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. White Bear Lake 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 | 18.0 mi | |
| 2009 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,550 | 16.0 mi | |
| 1996 | Debris and open burning | 1,299 | 41.9 mi | |
| 2004 | Recreation and ceremony | 1,000 | 19.5 mi | |
| 2000 | Smoking | 420 | 23.4 mi | |
| 2010 | Equipment and vehicle use | 336 | 20.3 mi | |
| 1995 | Debris and open burning | 320 | 47.2 mi | |
| 1999 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 306 | 19.4 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 280 | 47.2 mi | |
| 2005 | Debris and open burning | 260 | 19.6 mi | |
| 2004 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 250 | 11.2 mi | |
| 2007 | Recreation and ceremony | 248 | 19.1 mi |
Top 4 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 White Bear Lake. 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.