In 2025, fire departments serving Zimmerman responded to 77 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $350K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 75% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Jun dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
364 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $4.4M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 80 | — | |
| 2022 | 107 | +33.8% | |
| 2023 | 95 | -11.2% | |
| 2024* | 5 | — | |
| 2025 | 77 | — |
* Well below Zimmerman'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 16 building fires Zimmerman departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 64 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 | 30 | 46.9% | |
| 2 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 12 | 18.8% | |
| 3 | Wall surface: exterior | 4 | 6.2% | |
| 4 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 4 | 6.2% | |
| 5 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 2 | 3.1% | |
| 6 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 2 | 3.1% | |
| 7 | Cooking area, kitchen | 1 | 1.6% | |
| 8 | Storage area, other | 1 | 1.6% | |
| 9 | Storage: supplies or tools; dead storage | 1 | 1.6% | |
| 10 | Duct: hvac, cable, exhaust, heating, or AC | 1 | 1.6% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 6 | 9.4% |
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 Zimmerman mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 44 | 68.8% | |
| 2 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 5 | 7.8% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 2 | 3.1% | |
| 4 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 2 | 3.1% | |
| 5 | Hot ember or ash | 2 | 3.1% | |
| 6 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 2 | 3.1% | |
| 7 | Conducted heat from another fire | 2 | 3.1% | |
| 8 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 1.6% | |
| 9 | Arcing | 1 | 1.6% | |
| 10 | Heat, spark from friction | 1 | 1.6% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 2 | 3.1% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Zimmerman departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 98% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $350,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $200,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $181,200 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $160,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $30,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $20,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $10,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $10,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Zimmerman sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 27,533 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 | 24.4 mi | |
| 2009 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,550 | 25.8 mi | |
| 1992 | Debris and open burning | 1,737 | 35.3 mi | |
| 1996 | Recreation and ceremony | 1,460 | 39.2 mi | |
| 1996 | Debris and open burning | 1,299 | 3.6 mi | |
| 2003 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,250 | 37.7 mi | |
| 2004 | Recreation and ceremony | 1,000 | 46.3 mi | |
| 2004 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 835 | 33.7 mi | |
| 1992 | Arson/incendiarism | 830 | 45.2 mi | |
| 1998 | Arson/incendiarism | 750 | 45.8 mi | |
| 2004 | Debris and open burning | 710 | 35.6 mi | |
| 1993 | Arson/incendiarism | 680 | 36.6 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 | 55398 | 364 |
Six Minnesota cities with population within ±25% of Zimmerman. 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.