In 2025, fire departments serving Clarinda responded to 49 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $300K 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 59% of all calls.
Oct peaks. Jul dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
214 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $2.0M cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 26 | — | |
| 2022 | 45 | +73.1% | |
| 2023 | 29 | -35.6% | |
| 2024 | 65 | +124.1% | |
| 2025 | 49 | -24.6% |
For the 5 building fires Clarinda departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 133 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 | Outside area, other | 49 | 36.8% | |
| 2 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 20 | 15.0% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 15 | 11.3% | |
| 4 | Vehicle area, other | 7 | 5.3% | |
| 5 | Undetermined | 6 | 4.5% | |
| 6 | Function area, other | 4 | 3.0% | |
| 7 | Wall surface: exterior | 4 | 3.0% | |
| 8 | Roof surface: exterior | 4 | 3.0% | |
| 9 | Ceiling & floor assembly, crawl space b/t stories | 3 | 2.3% | |
| 10 | Entrance way, lobby | 2 | 1.5% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 19 | 14.3% |
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 Clarinda mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 35 | 26.3% | |
| 2 | Hot ember or ash | 24 | 18.0% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 13 | 9.8% | |
| 4 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 11 | 8.3% | |
| 5 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 8 | 6.0% | |
| 6 | Cigarette lighter | 6 | 4.5% | |
| 7 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 5 | 3.8% | |
| 8 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 4 | 3.0% | |
| 9 | Molten, hot material | 4 | 3.0% | |
| 10 | Flying brand, ember, spark | 4 | 3.0% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 19 | 14.3% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Clarinda departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $300,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $300,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Major | Investigated |
| 3 | $60,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $20,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $2,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $200 | Grass fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $100 | Special outside fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Clarinda sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 11,176 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 | 39.3 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,200 | 39.2 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 820 | 36.8 mi | |
| 1995 | Debris and open burning | 600 | 46.6 mi | |
| 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 500 | 48.8 mi | |
| 2002 | Arson/incendiarism | 476 | 44.4 mi | |
| 2002 | Debris and open burning | 300 | 35.9 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 300 | 42.6 mi | |
| 2000 | Smoking | 265 | 45.5 mi | |
| 2018 | Debris and open burning | 260 | 10.3 mi | |
| 2005 | Equipment and vehicle use | 200 | 30.4 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 200 | 40.3 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 | 51632 | 214 |
Six Iowa cities with population within ±25% of Clarinda. 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.