In 2025, fire departments serving Carter Lake responded to 23 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $100K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Fire, other lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 61% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Feb dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
168 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $1.9M cumulative property loss. 4 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 13 | — | |
| 2022* | 19 | — | |
| 2023 | 84 | — | |
| 2024 | 29 | -65.5% | |
| 2025 | 23 | -20.7% |
* Well below Carter Lake'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 Carter Lake departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 54 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 | 9 | 16.7% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 8 | 14.8% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 8 | 14.8% | |
| 4 | Other | 6 | 11.1% | |
| 5 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 4 | 7.4% | |
| 6 | Duct: hvac, cable, exhaust, heating, or AC | 4 | 7.4% | |
| 7 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 3 | 5.6% | |
| 8 | Vehicle area, other | 3 | 5.6% | |
| 9 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 2 | 3.7% | |
| 10 | Swimming pool | 1 | 1.9% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 6 | 11.1% |
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 Carter Lake mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Heat source: other | 19 | 35.2% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 13 | 24.1% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 9 | 16.7% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 5 | 9.3% | |
| 5 | Heat, spark from friction | 3 | 5.6% | |
| 6 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 1.9% | |
| 7 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 1 | 1.9% | |
| 8 | Match | 1 | 1.9% | |
| 9 | Cigarette lighter | 1 | 1.9% | |
| 10 | Multiple heat sources including multiple ignitions | 1 | 1.9% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Carter Lake departments in 2025. These 4 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $25,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $3,500 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $1,500 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Carter Lake sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 12,069 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 4,000 | 32.4 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 2,000 | 31.8 mi | |
| 2018 | Arson/incendiarism | 715 | 29.6 mi | |
| 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 500 | 14.9 mi | |
| 2005 | Equipment and vehicle use | 443 | 40.4 mi | |
| 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 400 | 39.6 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 340 | 48.5 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 300 | 42.5 mi | |
| 2018 | Natural | 300 | 5.0 mi | |
| 2014 | Equipment and vehicle use | 280 | 48.4 mi | |
| 2009 | Debris and open burning | 250 | 13.5 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 250 | 45.1 mi |
Top 2 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
Six Iowa cities with population within ±25% of Carter Lake. 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.