In 2025, fire departments serving Alton responded to 16 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $75K 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 75% of all calls.
Jan peaks. Mar dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
63 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $433K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 2 | — | |
| 2022 | 13 | — | |
| 2023 | 8 | -38.5% | |
| 2024 | 24 | +200.0% | |
| 2025 | 16 | -33.3% |
* Well below Alton'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 5 building fires Alton departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 27 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 | 33.3% | |
| 2 | Cargo/trunk area - all vehicles | 3 | 11.1% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 3 | 11.1% | |
| 4 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 3 | 11.1% | |
| 5 | Cooking area, kitchen | 2 | 7.4% | |
| 6 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 1 | 3.7% | |
| 7 | Storage room, area, tank, or bin | 1 | 3.7% | |
| 8 | Maintenance shop or area, paint shop or area | 1 | 3.7% | |
| 9 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 1 | 3.7% | |
| 10 | Separate operator/control area of transportation | 1 | 3.7% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 2 | 7.4% |
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 Alton mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 9 | 33.3% | |
| 2 | Hot ember or ash | 5 | 18.5% | |
| 3 | Chemical reaction | 3 | 11.1% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 2 | 7.4% | |
| 5 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 2 | 7.4% | |
| 6 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 3.7% | |
| 7 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 1 | 3.7% | |
| 8 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 1 | 3.7% | |
| 9 | Candle | 1 | 3.7% | |
| 10 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 1 | 3.7% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 1 | 3.7% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Alton departments in 2025. These 5 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $75,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $50,000 | Cultivated grain or crop fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $40,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $30,000 | Camper or recreational vehicle (RV) fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Alton sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 8,454 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,000 | 27.1 mi | |
| 1999 | Debris and open burning | 1,400 | 48.4 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,200 | 44.6 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 350 | 22.2 mi | |
| 2000 | Debris and open burning | 300 | 25.1 mi | |
| 2020 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 250 | 32.9 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 220 | 49.2 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 214 | 20.4 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 200 | 43.8 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 200 | 15.9 mi | |
| 2000 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 200 | 28.1 mi | |
| 2019 | Debris and open burning | 200 | 42.3 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 | 51003 | 63 |
Six Iowa cities with population within ±25% of Alton. 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.