Home› Counties› MN› Marshall County
2025 County Report

Fires in Marshall County, MN

In 2025, fire departments serving Marshall County responded to 83 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $250K property loss. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as Very High.

4,660 residents FIPS 27089 20 cities · 9 fire depts
Total incidents
83
354 across 5 years
Building fires
24
21 wildland
Property loss
$579K
$422K structure · $157K contents
Casualties
0 / 0
0 civ deaths · 0 civ inj · 0 FF inj
01 The mix

What kinds of fires happen here?

Building fires lead by count. Top five categories make up about 66% of all calls.

83
Total Incidents
Building fires 24 28.9%
Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire 9 10.8%
Grass fire 9 10.8%
Forest, woods or wildland fire 7 8.4%
Vehicle accident, general cleanup 6 7.2%
All other categories 28 33.7%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in Marshall County?

Jan peaks. Dec dips.

Jan 13
Feb 3
Mar 9
Apr 13
May 8
Jun 5
Jul 5
Aug 5
Sep 9
Oct 8
Nov 3
Dec 2
03 Five-year trend

Year over year in Marshall County

354 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 113
2022 62
2023 59
2024 37
2025 83
04 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 24 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional
62%
15
Cause undetermined
4%
1
Intentional / arson
4%
1
Equipment / heat source failure
21%
5
Under investigation
4%
1
Act of nature (lightning)
5%
1
05 The biggest fires

10 fires · $401K in losses

Largest single-incident property losses in Marshall County during 2025. These 10 fires alone account for 95% of the county's total.

#Property lossCityTypeSeverity
1 $250,000 City of Middle River Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire Major
2 $50,000 City of Strandquist Building fires Significant
3 $50,000 City of Stephen Building fires Significant
4 $10,000 City of Argyle Building fires Significant
5 $10,000 City of Argyle Building fires Significant
6 $10,000 City of Stephen Building fires Significant
7 $6,000 City of Newfolden Passenger vehicle fire Significant
8 $5,000 City of Newfolden Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire Significant
9 $5,000 City of Warren Fire in mobile home used as fixed residence Significant
10 $5,000 Warren Building fires Significant
06 How Marshall County compares

Marshall County vs MN vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

17.81
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Marshall County
17.81
MN avg
7.36
US avg
7.15
5.15
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Marshall County
5.15
MN avg
1.08
US avg
0.82
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
Marshall County
0
MN avg
4.4
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in Marshall County

12 cities mapped to FIPS 27089.

08 First responders

Busiest fire departments in Marshall County

9 departments report from this county.

NEWFOLDEN FIRE DEPT
—
FDID 45105 20 incidents
WARREN FIRE DEPT
—
FDID 45108 16 incidents
STEPHEN FIRE DEPT
—
FDID 45107 14 incidents
ALVARADO FIRE DEPT
—
FDID 45101 9 incidents
VIKING
—
FDID 45109 9 incidents
09 Historical wildfires

Largest fires recorded in MN

Top 10 fire perimeters by acres burned (state-scoped fallback while we build out per-county polygons).

#NameYearAgencyAcres
1 Greenwood 2021 USFS 26,829
2 MNGLR-FY21-WF-Oxcart 2021 FWS 12,536
3 Palsburg 2015 FWS 4,456
4 Agassiz NWR Project RX 2024 FWS 4,208
5 MNSBR-FY19-RX-UNIT 4a 6 6a 2019 FWS 2,989
6 RL 005 UNIT 8 & 9 2021 BIA 2,937
7 4 Square Mile RX 2024 FWS 2,481
8 RL 029 2018 BIA 2,360
9 Unit 8E RX 2024 FWS 2,241
10 MNSBR-FY19-RX-UNIT 7 9 11 2019 FWS 2,193

About this data

County-level NFIRS aggregates for 2025, plus 5-year totals across 2021–2025. NFIRS is voluntary — about 23,000 of roughly 30,000 US fire departments report — so totals are a strong indicator, not a complete census. Wildfire risk score (0–100) and Expected Annual Loss come from FEMA's National Risk Index. Drought class is the most recent USDM classification (D0 = abnormally dry through D4 = exceptional drought). Historical fire perimeters are sourced from the NIFC InterAgency Fire Perimeter History.