In 2025, fire departments serving Algona responded to 31 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $28K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Electrical wiring/equipment problem, other lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 45% of all calls.
Jun peaks. Nov dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
158 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $1.3M cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 30 | — | |
| 2022 | 35 | +16.7% | |
| 2023 | 45 | +28.6% | |
| 2024* | 17 | — | |
| 2025 | 31 | — |
* Well below Algona's usual volume. That almost always means one or more departments didn't submit a full year to NFIRS, not that fires dropped, so no year-over-year change is shown for it.
For the 2 building fires Algona 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 | Outside area, other | 9 | 19.6% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 8 | 17.4% | |
| 3 | Cooking area, kitchen | 3 | 6.5% | |
| 4 | Bathroom, checkroom, lavatory, locker room | 3 | 6.5% | |
| 5 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 2 | 4.3% | |
| 6 | Storage area, other | 2 | 4.3% | |
| 7 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 2 | 4.3% | |
| 8 | Structural area, other | 2 | 4.3% | |
| 9 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 2 | 4.3% | |
| 10 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 2 | 4.3% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 11 | 23.9% |
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 Algona mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 20 | 43.5% | |
| 2 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 7 | 15.2% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 3 | 6.5% | |
| 4 | Candle | 3 | 6.5% | |
| 5 | Heat source: other | 2 | 4.3% | |
| 6 | Arcing | 2 | 4.3% | |
| 7 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 2 | 4.3% | |
| 8 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 1 | 2.2% | |
| 9 | Heat, spark from friction | 1 | 2.2% | |
| 10 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 1 | 2.2% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 4 | 8.7% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Algona departments in 2025. These 4 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $28,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $5,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $2,500 | Cooking fire, confined to container | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $500 | Fires in structures other than in a building | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Algona sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 63,710 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 52,056 | 47.2 mi | |
| 2018 | Equipment and vehicle use | 3,312 | 45.9 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,243 | 49.1 mi | |
| 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,061 | 39.1 mi | |
| 1997 | Debris and open burning | 594 | 38.5 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 494 | 6.9 mi | |
| 2018 | Natural | 420 | 30.7 mi | |
| 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 384 | 47.6 mi | |
| 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 360 | 40.6 mi | |
| 2015 | Natural | 359 | 35.9 mi | |
| 2003 | Natural | 310 | 34.0 mi | |
| 2012 | Natural | 302 | 49.6 mi |
Top 4 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
Six Washington cities with population within ±25% of Algona. 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.