In 2025, fire departments serving Ankeny responded to 263 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $281K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 50% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Jan dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
1,385 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $7.2M cumulative property loss. 2 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 205 | — | |
| 2022 | 371 | +81.0% | |
| 2023 | 268 | -27.8% | |
| 2024 | 278 | +3.7% | |
| 2025 | 263 | -5.4% |
For the 33 building fires Ankeny departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 257 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 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 73 | 28.4% | |
| 2 | Cooking area, kitchen | 25 | 9.7% | |
| 3 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 20 | 7.8% | |
| 4 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 18 | 7.0% | |
| 5 | Undetermined | 15 | 5.8% | |
| 6 | Wall surface: exterior | 12 | 4.7% | |
| 7 | Cargo/trunk area - all vehicles | 10 | 3.9% | |
| 8 | Bathroom, checkroom, lavatory, locker room | 7 | 2.7% | |
| 9 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 7 | 2.7% | |
| 10 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 7 | 2.7% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 63 | 24.5% |
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 Ankeny mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 122 | 47.5% | |
| 2 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 23 | 8.9% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 21 | 8.2% | |
| 4 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 18 | 7.0% | |
| 5 | Hot ember or ash | 10 | 3.9% | |
| 6 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 9 | 3.5% | |
| 7 | Cigarette | 9 | 3.5% | |
| 8 | Heat, spark from friction | 7 | 2.7% | |
| 9 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 6 | 2.3% | |
| 10 | Cigarette lighter | 5 | 1.9% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 27 | 10.5% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Ankeny departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 90% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $280,700 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $125,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $125,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $100,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Ankeny sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
9 fire-related casualties recorded in NFIRS Module 11 across the 2021–2025 window. Age, gender, and severity are coarse-binned — no individual identification possible.
| Age | Count | |
|---|---|---|
| 0-9 | 0 | |
| 10-19 | 0 | |
| 20-29 | 0 | |
| 30-39 | 7 | |
| 40-49 | 2 | |
| 50-59 | 0 | |
| 60-69 | 0 | |
| 70-79 | 0 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 3,776 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | Equipment and vehicle use | 700 | 10.0 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 346 | 35.5 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 320 | 34.8 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 300 | 49.3 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 160 | 43.1 mi | |
| 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 150 | 36.6 mi | |
| 2015 | Debris and open burning | 150 | 45.3 mi | |
| 2012 | Debris and open burning | 120 | 49.0 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 120 | 41.8 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 105 | 41.5 mi | |
| 2013 | Debris and open burning | 100 | 12.6 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 100 | 10.0 mi |
Top 10 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
Six Iowa cities with population within ±25% of Ankeny. 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.