In 2025, fire departments serving Charles City responded to 109 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $100K 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 72% of all calls.
Jan peaks. Oct dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
484 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $1.9M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 78 | — | |
| 2022 | 73 | -6.4% | |
| 2023 | 81 | +11.0% | |
| 2024 | 143 | +76.5% | |
| 2025 | 109 | -23.8% |
For the 43 building fires Charles City departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 138 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 | 16 | 11.6% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 16 | 11.6% | |
| 3 | Cooking area, kitchen | 13 | 9.4% | |
| 4 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 11 | 8.0% | |
| 5 | Outside area, other | 11 | 8.0% | |
| 6 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 7 | 5.1% | |
| 7 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 5 | 3.6% | |
| 8 | Storage area, other | 5 | 3.6% | |
| 9 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 4 | 2.9% | |
| 10 | Interior stairway or ramp | 3 | 2.2% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 47 | 34.1% |
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 Charles City mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 38 | 27.5% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 26 | 18.8% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 13 | 9.4% | |
| 4 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 12 | 8.7% | |
| 5 | Hot ember or ash | 6 | 4.3% | |
| 6 | Chemical reaction | 5 | 3.6% | |
| 7 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 4 | 2.9% | |
| 8 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 4 | 2.9% | |
| 9 | Cigarette | 4 | 2.9% | |
| 10 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 4 | 2.9% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 22 | 15.9% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Charles City departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $100,400 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $65,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $35,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $15,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $5,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $396 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $100 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Charles City sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 3,355 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 | 750 | 14.8 mi | |
| 2015 | Debris and open burning | 500 | 14.9 mi | |
| 2012 | Debris and open burning | 200 | 47.2 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 150 | 30.2 mi | |
| 2018 | Debris and open burning | 150 | 6.7 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 140 | 45.7 mi | |
| 2015 | Equipment and vehicle use | 120 | 44.9 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 120 | 37.2 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 100 | 40.7 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 100 | 37.7 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 85 | 46.9 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 85 | 11.0 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 | 50616 | 484 |
Six Iowa cities with population within ±25% of Charles City. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Charles City.
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.