In 2025, fire departments serving Colfax responded to 44 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $75K 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 77% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Jul dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
102 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $816K cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 11 | — | |
| 2022* | 11 | — | |
| 2023 | 17 | — | |
| 2024 | 19 | +11.8% | |
| 2025 | 44 | +131.6% |
* Well below Colfax'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 7 building fires Colfax departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 16 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 | 4 | 25.0% | |
| 2 | Storage area, other | 2 | 12.5% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 2 | 12.5% | |
| 4 | Interior stairway or ramp | 1 | 6.2% | |
| 5 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 1 | 6.2% | |
| 6 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 1 | 6.2% | |
| 7 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 1 | 6.2% | |
| 8 | Separate operator/control area of transportation | 1 | 6.2% | |
| 9 | Exterior, exposed surface | 1 | 6.2% | |
| 10 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 1 | 6.2% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 1 | 6.2% |
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 Colfax mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Heat source: other | 4 | 25.0% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 4 | 25.0% | |
| 3 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 2 | 12.5% | |
| 4 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 2 | 12.5% | |
| 5 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 1 | 6.2% | |
| 6 | Heat, spark from friction | 1 | 6.2% | |
| 7 | Hot ember or ash | 1 | 6.2% | |
| 8 | Multiple heat sources including multiple ignitions | 1 | 6.2% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Colfax departments in 2025. These 5 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $75,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $10,000 | Grass fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $10,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $5,000 | Power line down | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $5,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Colfax sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 6,722 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 1,000 | 36.5 mi | |
| 2017 | Equipment and vehicle use | 700 | 12.6 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 500 | 40.0 mi | |
| 2015 | Debris and open burning | 500 | 44.1 mi | |
| 2004 | Debris and open burning | 400 | 35.4 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 346 | 41.5 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 320 | 41.2 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 250 | 43.2 mi | |
| 2011 | Debris and open burning | 250 | 48.8 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 250 | 45.9 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 200 | 36.6 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 200 | 45.8 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 Colfax. 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.