In 2025, fire departments serving Blairstown responded to 10 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $100K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 100% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Jan dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
22 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $216K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 0 | — | |
| 2022* | 1 | — | |
| 2023* | 0 | — | |
| 2024 | 11 | — | |
| 2025 | 10 | -9.1% |
* Well below Blairstown'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 0 building fires Blairstown departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 8 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 | 3 | 37.5% | |
| 2 | Other | 1 | 12.5% | |
| 3 | Cargo/trunk area - all vehicles | 1 | 12.5% | |
| 4 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 1 | 12.5% | |
| 5 | Outside area, other | 1 | 12.5% | |
| 6 | Railroad right of way: on or near | 1 | 12.5% |
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 Blairstown mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 3 | 37.5% | |
| 2 | Heat source: other | 1 | 12.5% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 1 | 12.5% | |
| 4 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 12.5% | |
| 5 | Heat, spark from friction | 1 | 12.5% | |
| 6 | Multiple heat sources including multiple ignitions | 1 | 12.5% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Blairstown departments in 2025. These 6 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $100,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $28,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $20,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $15,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $6,000 | Grass fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $1 | Grass fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Blairstown sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 6,850 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 | 45.9 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 824 | 5.8 mi | |
| 2018 | Debris and open burning | 402 | 10.8 mi | |
| 2004 | Debris and open burning | 400 | 32.2 mi | |
| 2012 | Debris and open burning | 400 | 43.2 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 360 | 6.9 mi | |
| 2018 | Debris and open burning | 316 | 7.3 mi | |
| 2011 | Debris and open burning | 250 | 13.2 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 250 | 17.3 mi | |
| 2020 | Debris and open burning | 228 | 6.8 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 200 | 29.6 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 200 | 37.5 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 | 52209 | 22 |
Six Iowa cities with population within ±25% of Blairstown. 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.