In 2025, fire departments serving Albia responded to 30 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $10K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Building fires lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 70% of all calls.
Mar peaks. May dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
164 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $115K cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 25 | — | |
| 2022 | 40 | +60.0% | |
| 2023 | 28 | -30.0% | |
| 2024 | 41 | +46.4% | |
| 2025 | 30 | -26.8% |
For the 8 building fires Albia departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 46 building fires investigators classified across 2021–2025. The room or location where ignition occurred — kitchens, bedrooms, exterior, vehicle areas — tells you where to focus prevention.
| # | Area of origin | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 36 | 78.3% | |
| 2 | Wall surface: exterior | 2 | 4.3% | |
| 3 | Entrance way, lobby | 1 | 2.2% | |
| 4 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 1 | 2.2% | |
| 5 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 1 | 2.2% | |
| 6 | Storage area, other | 1 | 2.2% | |
| 7 | Duct: hvac, cable, exhaust, heating, or AC | 1 | 2.2% | |
| 8 | Ceiling & floor assembly, crawl space b/t stories | 1 | 2.2% | |
| 9 | Attic: vacant, crawl space above top story, cupola | 1 | 2.2% | |
| 10 | Wall assembly | 1 | 2.2% |
NFIRS Heat Source (HEAT_SOURC) — the physical thing that started it. Spark or ember from operating equipment, an open flame, smoking materials, or hot embers from a fireplace are the leading culprits nationwide. Here's the Albia mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 40 | 87.0% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 3 | 6.5% | |
| 3 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 1 | 2.2% | |
| 4 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 1 | 2.2% | |
| 5 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 1 | 2.2% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Albia departments in 2025. These 1 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $10,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Albia sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 8,922 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,200 | 27.3 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 1,000 | 26.6 mi | |
| 2005 | Debris and open burning | 800 | 42.9 mi | |
| 2017 | Debris and open burning | 640 | 23.7 mi | |
| 2020 | Debris and open burning | 500 | 23.6 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 500 | 14.7 mi | |
| 2015 | Debris and open burning | 500 | 19.2 mi | |
| 2020 | Debris and open burning | 454 | 35.3 mi | |
| 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 340 | 23.2 mi | |
| 2015 | Debris and open burning | 300 | 35.4 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 250 | 18.2 mi | |
| 2019 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 228 | 48.2 mi |
Top 1 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
| # | ZIP | 5-yr incidents | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 52531 | 164 |
Six Iowa cities with population within ±25% of Albia. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
A 30-minute weekend can cut your home's exposure substantially. These four checklists are a good starting point.
Numbers reflect incidents reported by participating fire departments to the National Fire Incident Reporting System (NFIRS) Public Data Release for calendar year 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. Per-capita comparisons use 2023 ACS population estimates. Wildland fire data complements NFIRS with NIFC and USFS perimeters. Active-fire counts come from a dated NIFC snapshot, not a live feed.