In 2025, fire departments serving Camanche responded to 40 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $15K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Unauthorized burning lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 65% of all calls.
Apr peaks. Feb dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
216 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $114K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 20 | — | |
| 2022 | 44 | — | |
| 2023 | 56 | +27.3% | |
| 2024 | 56 | +0.0% | |
| 2025 | 40 | -28.6% |
* Well below Camanche'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 3 building fires Camanche departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 35 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 | 8 | 22.9% | |
| 2 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 6 | 17.1% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 5 | 14.3% | |
| 4 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 4 | 11.4% | |
| 5 | Cooking area, kitchen | 3 | 8.6% | |
| 6 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 2 | 5.7% | |
| 7 | Wildland, woods | 2 | 5.7% | |
| 8 | Other | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 9 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 10 | Awning | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 2 | 5.7% |
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 Camanche mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 16 | 45.7% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 4 | 11.4% | |
| 3 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 3 | 8.6% | |
| 4 | Hot ember or ash | 3 | 8.6% | |
| 5 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 2 | 5.7% | |
| 6 | Heat, spark from friction | 2 | 5.7% | |
| 7 | Flying brand, ember, spark | 2 | 5.7% | |
| 8 | Heat source: other | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 9 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 10 | Chemical reaction | 1 | 2.9% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Camanche departments in 2025. These 2 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $15,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $5,000 | Electrical wiring/equipment problem, other | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Camanche sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 4,058 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 | 19.4 mi | |
| 2015 | Debris and open burning | 640 | 15.3 mi | |
| 2014 | Recreation and ceremony | 265 | 14.2 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 200 | 33.1 mi | |
| 2015 | Debris and open burning | 195 | 16.5 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 150 | 48.8 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 150 | 27.8 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 100 | 20.8 mi | |
| 2013 | Debris and open burning | 80 | 31.5 mi | |
| 2008 | Natural | 75 | 29.6 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 60 | 32.0 mi | |
| 2004 | Arson/incendiarism | 60 | 48.1 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 | 52730 | 216 |
Six Iowa cities with population within ±25% of Camanche. 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.