In 2025, fire departments serving Watonwan County responded to 72 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $285K property loss.
Building fires lead by count. Top five categories make up about 72% of all calls.
Jan peaks. Feb dips.
342 incidents from 2021 through 2025.
| Year | Incidents | |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 63 | |
| 2022 | 76 | |
| 2023 | 60 | |
| 2024 | 71 | |
| 2025 | 72 |
For the 20 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.
Largest single-incident property losses in Watonwan County during 2025. These 9 fires alone account for 100% of the county's total.
| # | Property loss | City | Type | Severity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $285,000 | Saint James | Building fires | Major |
| 2 | $250,000 | Saint James | Building fires | Major |
| 3 | $83,800 | Saint James | Building fires | Significant |
| 4 | $56,600 | Saint James | Building fires | Significant |
| 5 | $9,500 | Ormsby | Building fires | Significant |
| 6 | $1,500 | Saint James | Building fires | Significant |
| 7 | $100 | Saint James | Fires in structures other than in a building | Significant |
| 8 | $50 | Madelia | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant |
| 9 | $20 | Madelia | Building fires | Significant |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.
12 cities mapped to FIPS 27165.
8 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.