In 2025, fire departments serving Clarence responded to 28 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $140K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Trash or rubbish fire, contained lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 68% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Aug dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
74 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $258K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 9 | — | |
| 2022* | 8 | — | |
| 2023 | 9 | — | |
| 2024 | 20 | +122.2% | |
| 2025 | 28 | +40.0% |
* Well below Clarence'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 5 building fires Clarence departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 23 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 | 5 | 21.7% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 5 | 21.7% | |
| 3 | Vehicle area, other | 4 | 17.4% | |
| 4 | Storage area, other | 1 | 4.3% | |
| 5 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 1 | 4.3% | |
| 6 | Equipment or service area, other | 1 | 4.3% | |
| 7 | Maintenance shop or area, paint shop or area | 1 | 4.3% | |
| 8 | Wall surface: exterior | 1 | 4.3% | |
| 9 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 1 | 4.3% | |
| 10 | Railroad right of way: on or near | 1 | 4.3% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 2 | 8.7% |
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 Clarence mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Arcing | 6 | 26.1% | |
| 2 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 4 | 17.4% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 3 | 13.0% | |
| 4 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 3 | 13.0% | |
| 5 | Undetermined | 3 | 13.0% | |
| 6 | Heat source: other | 1 | 4.3% | |
| 7 | Hot ember or ash | 1 | 4.3% | |
| 8 | Cigarette lighter | 1 | 4.3% | |
| 9 | Backfire from internal combustion engine | 1 | 4.3% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Clarence departments in 2025. These 2 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $140,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $35,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Clarence sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 8,697 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 | 30.5 mi | |
| 2003 | Recreation and ceremony | 1,200 | 43.5 mi | |
| 2000 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 832 | 43.5 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 820 | 43.5 mi | |
| 2015 | Debris and open burning | 640 | 32.4 mi | |
| 2003 | Arson/incendiarism | 630 | 43.5 mi | |
| 2012 | Debris and open burning | 400 | 24.4 mi | |
| 2000 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 282 | 43.5 mi | |
| 2000 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 232 | 43.5 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 200 | 17.8 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 200 | 41.4 mi | |
| 2015 | Debris and open burning | 195 | 50.0 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 | 52216 | 74 |
Six Iowa cities with population within ±25% of Clarence. 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.