In 2025, fire departments serving Washington County responded to 1,539 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $475K property loss. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as High.
Building fires lead by count. Top five categories make up about 63% of all calls.
Jul peaks. Oct dips.
6,382 incidents from 2021 through 2025.
| Year | Incidents | |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 1,105 | |
| 2022 | 1,311 | |
| 2023 | 1,325 | |
| 2024 | 1,102 | |
| 2025 | 1,539 |
For the 296 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.
Largest single-incident property losses in Washington County during 2025. These 10 fires alone account for 53% of the county's total.
| # | Property loss | City | Type | Severity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $475,000 | Mahtomedi | Building fires | Major |
| 2 | $450,000 | Forest Lake | Building fires | Major |
| 3 | $406,000 | Woodbury | Building fires | Major |
| 4 | $387,100 | Forest Lake | Building fires | Major |
| 5 | $300,000 | City of Forest Lake | Building fires | Major |
| 6 | $153,500 | Oakdale | Building fires | Significant |
| 7 | $150,000 | Forest Lake | Building fires | Significant |
| 8 | $150,000 | Hugo | Building fires | Significant |
| 9 | $150,000 | Saint Paul Park | Building fires | Significant |
| 10 | $150,000 | Saint Paul Park | Building fires | Significant |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.
12 cities mapped to FIPS 27163.
| City | Population | |
|---|---|---|
| Woodbury | 75,549 | View › |
| Cottage Grove | 39,274 | View › |
| Oakdale | 28,029 | View › |
| Forest Lake | 20,553 | View › |
| Stillwater | 19,316 | View › |
| Hugo | 15,831 | View › |
| Lake Elmo | 11,861 | View › |
| Mahtomedi | 8,073 | View › |
| St. Paul Park | 5,497 | View › |
| Oak Park Heights | 4,790 | View › |
| Newport | 4,163 | View › |
| Grant | 3,969 | View › |
14 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.