In 2025, fire departments serving Avoca responded to 29 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $500K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Grass fire lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 69% of all calls.
Oct peaks. May dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
106 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $1.6M cumulative property loss. 3 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 2 | — | |
| 2022* | 11 | — | |
| 2023 | 35 | — | |
| 2024 | 29 | -17.1% | |
| 2025 | 29 | +0.0% |
* Well below Avoca'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 Avoca departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 38 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 | 12 | 31.6% | |
| 2 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 5 | 13.2% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 4 | 10.5% | |
| 4 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 3 | 7.9% | |
| 5 | Cargo/trunk area - all vehicles | 3 | 7.9% | |
| 6 | Roof surface: exterior | 2 | 5.3% | |
| 7 | Exterior, exposed surface | 2 | 5.3% | |
| 8 | Wildland, woods | 2 | 5.3% | |
| 9 | Dining room, cafeteria bar area, beverage service | 1 | 2.6% | |
| 10 | Vehicle area, other | 1 | 2.6% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 3 | 7.9% |
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 Avoca mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 21 | 55.3% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 5 | 13.2% | |
| 3 | Heat source: other | 3 | 7.9% | |
| 4 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 3 | 7.9% | |
| 5 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 2 | 5.3% | |
| 6 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 2.6% | |
| 7 | Hot ember or ash | 1 | 2.6% | |
| 8 | Lightning | 1 | 2.6% | |
| 9 | Flying brand, ember, spark | 1 | 2.6% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Avoca departments in 2025. These 4 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $500,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $200,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $40,000 | Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $1 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Avoca sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 10,010 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 4,000 | 14.8 mi | |
| 2018 | Arson/incendiarism | 715 | 41.6 mi | |
| 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 500 | 38.6 mi | |
| 2015 | Debris and open burning | 480 | 49.6 mi | |
| 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 400 | 37.2 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 340 | 20.2 mi | |
| 2019 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 328 | 48.9 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 300 | 43.4 mi | |
| 2018 | Natural | 300 | 35.2 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 300 | 45.0 mi | |
| 2009 | Debris and open burning | 250 | 42.6 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 250 | 44.9 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 | 51521 | 106 |
Six Iowa cities with population within ±25% of Avoca. 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.