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Anoka County Multi-Jurisdictional All Hazards Mitigation Plan 102 4.3.1.5 Wildfires Wildfires are incidents of uncontrolled burning in grasslands, brush, or woodlands. In Minnesota, significant wild-land fires do not occur on an annual basis. However, several hundred lesser events occur annually across the entire state. Seasonal wild fires have been destructive, especially during periods of drought. The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR), Division of Forestry has primary responsibility for wild-land fire protection on 22.8 million acres of public and private land. Its total responsibility encompasses 45.5 million acres or 89 percent of the total land base. Wildfires occur throughout Minnesota and according to the Minnesota State Fire Marshal, there are more than 2,000 annual wildfires with an estimated loss of more than $13 million dollars. Due to the abundance of vegetation throughout the county, wildfires are a moderate threat in all rural areas. Significant events occur during periods of inadequate rainfall. Lesser events occur annually, usually as a result of escaped controlled burning or arson. The county's municipal and volunteer fire departments respond to a combined average of 100 wild-land fires annually. Many of these fires occur in mixed interface areas and pose threats to occupied structures. Several municipalities have extensive areas of greenbelt and parkland, and brush fires in these cities create a significant urban interface danger. Wildfires occur throughout the unincorporated areas of Anoka County. Significant events most often occur in the remote areas of the northwestern section. Lesser events can occur at any location throughout the entire county. Fire departments from each of the municipalities occasionally respond to grassland, brush or woodland fires within and around their cities. Anoka County and its municipalities experienced 133 wild-land fire events since 1980. This hazard resulted in three fatalities and six injuries. Structure damage was reported to be $2,173,438 and content loss was estimated to be $4,341,831. This content loss included crop loss. Andover, Coon Rapids, Fridley and Oak Grove experienced occurrences of the wildfire hazard yearly. The most significant event occurred May 3, 1999. The incident occurred along the railroad tracks for fifteen miles through the cities. A passing train caused this very large wildfire. The event lasted for three days. Anoka experienced occurrences of the wildfire hazard yearly. A very significant event occurred in 2004 at Sunny Acres Park adjacent to wetlands. During the fire, residents were evacuated. Large amounts of wetland vegetation burned. The likelihood of future occurrence is minimal and the impact is expected to be minimal. Blaine experiences multiple grass fires every year. Blaine has experienced major incidents in 1998, 2003 and 2004. The 1998 incident was arson related and the other two events occurred at the Anoka County Airport. All fires resulted in mult i-jurisdictional response from fire, police and state resources. 1998 and 2004 fires resulted in minor damage to structures, and one fire