In 2025, fire departments serving Chariton responded to 78 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $999 building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Grass fire lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 71% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Aug dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
302 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $402K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 38 | — | |
| 2022 | 59 | +55.3% | |
| 2023 | 60 | +1.7% | |
| 2024 | 67 | +11.7% | |
| 2025 | 78 | +16.4% |
For the 5 building fires Chariton departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 88 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 | 20 | 22.7% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 9 | 10.2% | |
| 3 | Cooking area, kitchen | 5 | 5.7% | |
| 4 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 5 | 5.7% | |
| 5 | Outside area, other | 5 | 5.7% | |
| 6 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 4 | 4.5% | |
| 7 | Wall surface: exterior | 4 | 4.5% | |
| 8 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 3 | 3.4% | |
| 9 | Ceiling & floor assembly, crawl space b/t stories | 3 | 3.4% | |
| 10 | Attic: vacant, crawl space above top story, cupola | 3 | 3.4% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 27 | 30.7% |
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 Chariton mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 31 | 35.2% | |
| 2 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 17 | 19.3% | |
| 3 | Heat source: other | 15 | 17.0% | |
| 4 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 6 | 6.8% | |
| 5 | Match | 5 | 5.7% | |
| 6 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 2 | 2.3% | |
| 7 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 2 | 2.3% | |
| 8 | Arcing | 2 | 2.3% | |
| 9 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 2 | 2.3% | |
| 10 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 1 | 1.1% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 5 | 5.7% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Chariton departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 16% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $999 | Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $999 | Grass fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $999 | Grass fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $999 | Grass fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $999 | Grass fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $999 | Grass fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $999 | Unauthorized burning | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $999 | Grass fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Chariton sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 9,350 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,200 | 10.8 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 1,000 | 43.2 mi | |
| 2005 | Debris and open burning | 800 | 20.3 mi | |
| 2017 | Debris and open burning | 640 | 42.8 mi | |
| 2020 | Debris and open burning | 500 | 48.6 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 500 | 14.7 mi | |
| 2015 | Debris and open burning | 500 | 7.4 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 346 | 28.0 mi | |
| 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 340 | 44.6 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 327 | 46.0 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 320 | 28.9 mi | |
| 2015 | Debris and open burning | 300 | 23.1 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 | 50049 | 302 |
Six Iowa cities with population within ±25% of Chariton. 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.