Home› Counties› MN› Morrison County
2025 County Report

Fires in Morrison County, MN

In 2025, fire departments serving Morrison County responded to 154 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $500K property loss. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as High.

15,236 residents FIPS 27097 26 cities · 12 fire depts
Total incidents
154
1,040 across 5 years
Building fires
21
40 wildland
Property loss
$2.4M
$1.6M structure · $768K contents
Casualties
0 / 1
0 civ deaths · 1 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 53% of all calls.

154
Total Incidents
Building fires 21 13.6%
Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire 18 11.7%
Grass fire 18 11.7%
Unauthorized burning 14 9.1%
Passenger vehicle fire 11 7.1%
All other categories 72 46.8%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in Morrison County?

Apr peaks. Dec dips.

Jan 15
Feb 9
Mar 17
Apr 20
May 14
Jun 10
Jul 10
Aug 14
Sep 12
Oct 14
Nov 13
Dec 6
03 Five-year trend

Year over year in Morrison County

1,040 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 455
2022 160
2023 130
2024 141
2025 154
04 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 21 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional
50%
24
Cause undetermined
12%
6
Intentional / arson
4%
2
Equipment / heat source failure
12%
6
Under investigation
21%
10
Act of nature (lightning)
1%
0
05 The biggest fires

10 fires · $1.4M in losses

Largest single-incident property losses in Morrison County during 2025. These 10 fires alone account for 83% of the county's total.

#Property lossCityTypeSeverity
1 $500,000 Little Falls Building fires Major
2 $250,000 Pierz Building fires Major
3 $150,000 Pierz Building fires Significant
4 $150,000 Pierz Building fires Significant
5 $60,000 Motley Building fires Significant
6 $60,000 City of Motley Building fires Significant
7 $50,000 Pierz Fires in structures other than in a building Significant
8 $50,000 Royalton Road freight or transport vehicle fire Significant
9 $50,000 Little Falls Water vehicle fire Significant
10 $30,000 Ramey Grass fire Significant
06 How Morrison County compares

Morrison County vs MN vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

10.11
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Morrison County
10.11
MN avg
7.36
US avg
7.15
1.38
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Morrison County
1.38
MN avg
1.08
US avg
0.82
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
Morrison County
0
MN avg
4.4
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in Morrison County

12 cities mapped to FIPS 27097.

08 First responders

Busiest fire departments in Morrison County

12 departments report from this county.

LITTLE FALLS FIRE DEPT
—
FDID 49304 81 incidents
PIERZ FIRE DEPT
—
FDID 49106 33 incidents
MOTLEY FIRE DEPT
—
FDID 49105 26 incidents
ROYALTON FIRE DEPT
—
FDID 49108 9 incidents
SCANDIA VALLEY FIRE DEPT
—
FDID 49111 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.