In 2025, fire departments serving Winona responded to 133 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $250K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Biological hazard, confirmed or suspected lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 53% of all calls.
Jul peaks. Oct dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
663 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2021. $3.9M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 191 | — | |
| 2022 | 150 | -21.5% | |
| 2023 | 185 | +23.3% | |
| 2024* | 4 | — | |
| 2025 | 133 | — |
* Well below Winona'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 12 building fires Winona departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 113 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 | 20 | 17.7% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 20 | 17.7% | |
| 3 | Cooking area, kitchen | 8 | 7.1% | |
| 4 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 6 | 5.3% | |
| 5 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 5 | 4.4% | |
| 6 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 5 | 4.4% | |
| 7 | Courtyard, patio, porch, terrace | 5 | 4.4% | |
| 8 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 4 | 3.5% | |
| 9 | Processing/manufacturing area, workroom | 4 | 3.5% | |
| 10 | Outside area, other | 4 | 3.5% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 32 | 28.3% |
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 Winona mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 70 | 61.9% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 15 | 13.3% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 3 | 2.7% | |
| 4 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 3 | 2.7% | |
| 5 | Arcing | 3 | 2.7% | |
| 6 | Hot ember or ash | 2 | 1.8% | |
| 7 | Fireworks | 2 | 1.8% | |
| 8 | Cigarette | 2 | 1.8% | |
| 9 | Cigarette lighter | 2 | 1.8% | |
| 10 | Chemical reaction | 2 | 1.8% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 9 | 8.0% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Winona departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 95% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $250,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $60,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $30,000 | Fire in motor home, camper, recreational vehicle | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $25,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $16,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $10,000 | Forest, woods or wildland fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $10,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $5,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Winona sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 3,783 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 | 14.6 mi | |
| 2000 | Debris and open burning | 360 | 26.1 mi | |
| 1998 | Arson/incendiarism | 295 | 19.6 mi | |
| 2012 | Equipment and vehicle use | 195 | 30.3 mi | |
| 2012 | Equipment and vehicle use | 166 | 42.1 mi | |
| 2007 | Recreation and ceremony | 159 | 46.6 mi | |
| 1999 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 124 | 38.4 mi | |
| 2018 | Debris and open burning | 124 | 43.0 mi | |
| 2018 | Debris and open burning | 122 | 43.3 mi | |
| 2009 | Equipment and vehicle use | 93 | 41.6 mi | |
| 2000 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 83 | 36.2 mi | |
| 1993 | Arson/incendiarism | 83 | 19.1 mi |
Top 2 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 Winona. 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.