In 2025, fire departments serving Belle Plaine responded to 44 fire and hazmat incidents . Here's the full picture.
Grass fire lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 68% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Jul dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
147 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $20K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 25 | — | |
| 2022 | 31 | +24.0% | |
| 2023 | 23 | -25.8% | |
| 2024 | 24 | +4.3% | |
| 2025 | 44 | +83.3% |
For the 3 building fires Belle Plaine departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 44 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 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 14 | 31.8% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 10 | 22.7% | |
| 3 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 4 | 9.1% | |
| 4 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 3 | 6.8% | |
| 5 | Railroad right of way: on or near | 3 | 6.8% | |
| 6 | Wildland, woods | 2 | 4.5% | |
| 7 | Storage: supplies or tools; dead storage | 1 | 2.3% | |
| 8 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 1 | 2.3% | |
| 9 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 1 | 2.3% | |
| 10 | Attic: vacant, crawl space above top story, cupola | 1 | 2.3% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 4 | 9.1% |
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 Belle Plaine mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 30 | 68.2% | |
| 2 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 5 | 11.4% | |
| 3 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 2 | 4.5% | |
| 4 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 2.3% | |
| 5 | Arcing | 1 | 2.3% | |
| 6 | Hot ember or ash | 1 | 2.3% | |
| 7 | Cigarette | 1 | 2.3% | |
| 8 | Lightning | 1 | 2.3% | |
| 9 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 1 | 2.3% | |
| 10 | Flying brand, ember, spark | 1 | 2.3% |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Belle Plaine sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 6,560 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 1,000 | 39.6 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 824 | 9.2 mi | |
| 2018 | Debris and open burning | 402 | 2.0 mi | |
| 2004 | Debris and open burning | 400 | 22.7 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 360 | 5.9 mi | |
| 2018 | Debris and open burning | 316 | 5.8 mi | |
| 2011 | Debris and open burning | 250 | 3.3 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 250 | 7.7 mi | |
| 2020 | Debris and open burning | 228 | 8.9 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 200 | 20.1 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 200 | 47.1 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 200 | 26.5 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 | 52208 | 147 |
Six Iowa cities with population within ±25% of Belle Plaine. 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.