ZIP 56479 recorded 45 fire and hazmat incidents in 2025, 177 across 2021–2025. Primary county: Cass County, MN. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as High.
177 incidents from 2021 through 2025 inside this ZIP.
| Year | Incidents | |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 29 | |
| 2022 | 42 | |
| 2023 | 31 | |
| 2024 | 30 | |
| 2025 | 45 |
May peaks. Dec dips. Aggregated across all 5 years inside this ZIP.
Top 5 NFIRS incident types for ZIP 56479 across 2021–2025.
| # | Incident type | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Building fires | 72 | 40.7% | |
| 2 | Grass fire | 26 | 14.7% | |
| 3 | Passenger vehicle fire | 10 | 5.6% | |
| 4 | Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire | 10 | 5.6% | |
| 5 | Forest, woods or wildland fire | 9 | 5.1% |
For the 18 building fires reported here in 2025, here's how investigators classified ignition cause.
NFIRS Area of Origin for ZIP 56479 fires across 2021–2025.
| # | Area of origin | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 19 | 28.8% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 8 | 12.1% | |
| 3 | Storage area, other | 7 | 10.6% | |
| 4 | Wall assembly | 4 | 6.1% | |
| 5 | Outside area, other | 4 | 6.1% | |
| 6 | Cooking area, kitchen | 3 | 4.5% | |
| 7 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 2 | 3.0% | |
| 8 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 2 | 3.0% | |
| 9 | All other areas | 17 | 25.8% |
NFIRS HEAT_SOURC code — the physical thing that started the fire.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 40 | 60.6% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 5 | 7.6% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 4 | 6.1% | |
| 4 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 3 | 4.5% | |
| 5 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 3 | 4.5% | |
| 6 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 3 | 4.5% | |
| 7 | Heat source: other | 2 | 3.0% | |
| 8 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 2 | 3.0% | |
| 9 | All other sources | 4 | 6.1% |
Largest single-incident losses in ZIP 56479 across 2021–2025. These 8 fires alone account for 309% of the ZIP's 2025 reported total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Year | Severity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $250,000 | Building fires | 2021 | Major |
| 2 | $250,000 | Building fires | 2022 | Major |
| 3 | $175,000 | Building fires | 2024 | Significant |
| 4 | $142,500 | Building fires | 2021 | Significant |
| 5 | $140,000 | Building fires | 2021 | Significant |
| 6 | $120,600 | Building fires | 2021 | Significant |
| 7 | $100,000 | Building fires | 2022 | Significant |
| 8 | $100,000 | Building fires | 2023 | Significant |
Some ZIPs span multiple cities. Ranked by 5-yr NFIRS incidents inside ZIP 56479.
| # | City | 5-yr incidents | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Staples | 168 |
Some ZIPs span multiple counties. The primary above is the largest by population weight; secondary counties are below.
| County | State | Weight | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wadena County | MN | 1.00 | FIPS 27159 |
| Todd County | MN | 0.50 | FIPS 27153 |
The figures above are historical. For today's air quality, fire-weather warnings, and active fires, go to the official sources.
NFIRS reports each fire incident with a 5-digit address ZIP. We aggregate those rows directly to produce ZIP-level totals — 177 incidents in this ZIP across 2021–2025. Building-fire breakdowns (Area of Origin, Heat Source, ignition cause) only count fires investigators classified beyond the basic incident report. Because NFIRS reporting is voluntary, totals are a strong indicator rather than a complete census.