In 2025, fire departments serving Steele County responded to 218 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $100K property loss.
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) lead by count. Top five categories make up about 53% of all calls.
Jul peaks. Sep dips.
878 incidents from 2021 through 2025.
| Year | Incidents | |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 207 | |
| 2022 | 232 | |
| 2023 | 61 | |
| 2024 | 160 | |
| 2025 | 218 |
For the 13 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.
Largest single-incident property losses in Steele County during 2025. These 10 fires alone account for 75% of the county's total.
| # | Property loss | City | Type | Severity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $100,000 | City of Blooming Pra | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant |
| 2 | $100,000 | Owatonna | Building fires | Significant |
| 3 | $95,000 | Owatonna | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant |
| 4 | $65,000 | Owatonna | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant |
| 5 | $50,000 | Owatonna | Building fires | Significant |
| 6 | $50,000 | Owatonna | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant |
| 7 | $40,000 | Medford | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant |
| 8 | $40,000 | Owatonna | Fires in structures other than in a building | Significant |
| 9 | $21,427 | City of Blooming Pra | Building fires | Significant |
| 10 | $20,000 | Owatonna | Building fires | Significant |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.
12 cities mapped to FIPS 27147.
4 departments report from this county.
Top 10 fire perimeters by acres burned (state-scoped fallback while we build out per-county polygons).
| # | Name | Year | Agency | Acres |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 |
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.