In 2025, fire departments serving Bettendorf responded to 220 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $200K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Power line down lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 54% of all calls.
Jun peaks. Feb dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
1,113 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $2.9M cumulative property loss. 3 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 175 | — | |
| 2022 | 230 | +31.4% | |
| 2023 | 220 | -4.3% | |
| 2024 | 268 | +21.8% | |
| 2025 | 220 | -17.9% |
For the 16 building fires Bettendorf departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 135 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 | 34 | 25.2% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 16 | 11.9% | |
| 3 | Cooking area, kitchen | 12 | 8.9% | |
| 4 | Outside area, other | 12 | 8.9% | |
| 5 | Other | 9 | 6.7% | |
| 6 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 4 | 3.0% | |
| 7 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 4 | 3.0% | |
| 8 | Vehicle area, other | 4 | 3.0% | |
| 9 | Exterior, exposed surface | 4 | 3.0% | |
| 10 | Equipment or service area, other | 3 | 2.2% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 33 | 24.4% |
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 Bettendorf mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 58 | 43.0% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 17 | 12.6% | |
| 3 | Heat source: other | 11 | 8.1% | |
| 4 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 8 | 5.9% | |
| 5 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 8 | 5.9% | |
| 6 | Arcing | 8 | 5.9% | |
| 7 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 8 | 5.9% | |
| 8 | Hot ember or ash | 3 | 2.2% | |
| 9 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 3 | 2.2% | |
| 10 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 2 | 1.5% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 9 | 6.7% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Bettendorf departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 95% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $200,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $55,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $12,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $8,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $7,500 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $6,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $5,000 | Cooking fire, confined to container | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $5,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Bettendorf sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
5 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 | 1 | |
| 10-19 | 1 | |
| 20-29 | 0 | |
| 30-39 | 1 | |
| 40-49 | 0 | |
| 50-59 | 0 | |
| 60-69 | 2 | |
| 70-79 | 0 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 9,096 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | Debris and open burning | 1,500 | 6.8 mi | |
| 2003 | Recreation and ceremony | 1,200 | 38.5 mi | |
| 2000 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 832 | 38.5 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 820 | 38.5 mi | |
| 2015 | Debris and open burning | 640 | 6.4 mi | |
| 2003 | Arson/incendiarism | 630 | 38.5 mi | |
| 2012 | Debris and open burning | 400 | 45.0 mi | |
| 1996 | Debris and open burning | 333 | 44.9 mi | |
| 2000 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 282 | 38.5 mi | |
| 2014 | Recreation and ceremony | 265 | 32.9 mi | |
| 2000 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 232 | 38.5 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 200 | 48.6 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 | 52722 | 1,113 |
Six Iowa cities with population within ±25% of Bettendorf. 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.