In 2025, fire departments serving Blue Grass responded to 35 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $30K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Building fires lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 69% of all calls.
Jan peaks. Feb dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
127 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $400K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 11 | — | |
| 2022 | 27 | — | |
| 2023 | 31 | +14.8% | |
| 2024 | 23 | -25.8% | |
| 2025 | 35 | +52.2% |
* Well below Blue Grass'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 6 building fires Blue Grass departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 25 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 | 7 | 28.0% | |
| 2 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 2 | 8.0% | |
| 3 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 2 | 8.0% | |
| 4 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 2 | 8.0% | |
| 5 | Outside area, other | 2 | 8.0% | |
| 6 | Function area, other | 1 | 4.0% | |
| 7 | Bathroom, checkroom, lavatory, locker room | 1 | 4.0% | |
| 8 | Structural area, other | 1 | 4.0% | |
| 9 | Substructure area or space, crawl space | 1 | 4.0% | |
| 10 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 1 | 4.0% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 5 | 20.0% |
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 Blue Grass mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 11 | 44.0% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 3 | 12.0% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 2 | 8.0% | |
| 4 | Hot ember or ash | 2 | 8.0% | |
| 5 | Lightning | 2 | 8.0% | |
| 6 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 1 | 4.0% | |
| 7 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 1 | 4.0% | |
| 8 | Cigarette lighter | 1 | 4.0% | |
| 9 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 1 | 4.0% | |
| 10 | Multiple heat sources including multiple ignitions | 1 | 4.0% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Blue Grass departments in 2025. These 7 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $30,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $25,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $10,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $10,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $10,000 | Fire in portable building, fixed location | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $500 | Outside rubbish, trash or waste fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $1 | Fire in motor home, camper, recreational vehicle | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Blue Grass sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 9,076 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 | 12.5 mi | |
| 2003 | Recreation and ceremony | 1,200 | 24.4 mi | |
| 2000 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 832 | 24.4 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 820 | 24.4 mi | |
| 2015 | Debris and open burning | 640 | 16.6 mi | |
| 2003 | Arson/incendiarism | 630 | 24.4 mi | |
| 2012 | Debris and open burning | 400 | 30.7 mi | |
| 1996 | Debris and open burning | 333 | 32.3 mi | |
| 2000 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 282 | 24.4 mi | |
| 2014 | Recreation and ceremony | 265 | 45.8 mi | |
| 2000 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 232 | 24.4 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 200 | 36.5 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 | 52726 | 127 |
Six Iowa cities with population within ±25% of Blue Grass. 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.