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2025 County Report

Fires in Renville County, MN

In 2025, fire departments serving Renville County responded to 96 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $100K property loss.

9,639 residents FIPS 27129 14 cities · 10 fire depts
Total incidents
96
488 across 5 years
Building fires
18
28 wildland
Property loss
$434K
$302K structure · $133K contents
Casualties
0 / 2
0 civ deaths · 0 civ inj · 2 FF inj
01 The mix

What kinds of fires happen here?

Building fires lead by count. Top five categories make up about 62% of all calls.

96
Total Incidents
Building fires 18 18.8%
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) 12 12.5%
Forest, woods or wildland fire 11 11.5%
Grass fire 9 9.4%
Prescribed fire 9 9.4%
All other categories 37 38.5%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in Renville County?

Apr peaks. Nov dips.

Jan 4
Feb 7
Mar 13
Apr 21
May 18
Jun 4
Jul 3
Aug 7
Sep 3
Oct 9
Nov 2
Dec 5
03 Five-year trend

Year over year in Renville County

488 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 77
2022 97
2023 153
2024 65
2025 96
04 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 18 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional
73%
19
Cause undetermined
0%
0
Intentional / arson
4%
1
Equipment / heat source failure
12%
3
Under investigation
8%
2
Act of nature (lightning)
3%
1
05 The biggest fires

10 fires · $284K in losses

Largest single-incident property losses in Renville County during 2025. These 10 fires alone account for 94% of the county's total.

#Property lossCityTypeSeverity
1 $100,000 City of Fairfax Building fires Significant
2 $80,000 City of Morton Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire Significant
3 $25,000 Renville Building fires Significant
4 $20,000 Olivia Building fires Significant
5 $20,000 City of Sacred Heart Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire Significant
6 $15,000 City of Sacred Heart Passenger vehicle fire Significant
7 $10,000 City of Fairfax Building fires Significant
8 $5,000 Fairfax Passenger vehicle fire Significant
9 $5,000 City of Morton Fires in structures other than in a building Significant
10 $3,500 City of Fairfax Fire in motor home, camper, recreational vehicle Significant
06 How Renville County compares

Renville County vs MN vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

9.96
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Renville County
9.96
MN avg
7.36
US avg
7.15
1.87
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Renville County
1.87
MN avg
1.08
US avg
0.82
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
Renville County
0
MN avg
4.4
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in Renville County

12 cities mapped to FIPS 27129.

08 First responders

Busiest fire departments in Renville County

10 departments report from this county.

RENVILLE FIRE DEPT
—
FDID 65109 28 incidents
SACRED HEART FIRE DEPT
—
FDID 65110 21 incidents
OLIVIA FIRE DEPT
—
FDID 65108 17 incidents
FAIRFAX FIRE DEPT
—
FDID 65104 12 incidents
FRANKLIN FIRE DEPT
—
FDID 65105 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.