In 2025, fire departments serving Council Bluffs responded to 658 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $150K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 67% of all calls.
Jan peaks. Jun dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
2,901 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $3.2M cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 498 | — | |
| 2022 | 572 | +14.9% | |
| 2023 | 505 | -11.7% | |
| 2024 | 668 | +32.3% | |
| 2025 | 658 | -1.5% |
For the 56 building fires Council Bluffs departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 598 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 | 123 | 20.6% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 89 | 14.9% | |
| 3 | Other | 56 | 9.4% | |
| 4 | Wildland, woods | 49 | 8.2% | |
| 5 | Undetermined | 43 | 7.2% | |
| 6 | Cooking area, kitchen | 26 | 4.3% | |
| 7 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 26 | 4.3% | |
| 8 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 24 | 4.0% | |
| 9 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 23 | 3.8% | |
| 10 | Vehicle area, other | 19 | 3.2% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 120 | 20.1% |
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 Council Bluffs mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 302 | 50.5% | |
| 2 | Heat source: other | 61 | 10.2% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 55 | 9.2% | |
| 4 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 46 | 7.7% | |
| 5 | Arcing | 31 | 5.2% | |
| 6 | Hot ember or ash | 18 | 3.0% | |
| 7 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 14 | 2.3% | |
| 8 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 8 | 1.3% | |
| 9 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 6 | 1.0% | |
| 10 | Cigarette | 6 | 1.0% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 51 | 8.5% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Council Bluffs departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 51% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $150,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $110,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $80,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $60,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $50,000 | Outside equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Council Bluffs sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
12 fire-related casualties recorded in NFIRS Module 11 across the 2021–2025 window. Age, gender, and severity are coarse-binned — no individual identification possible.
| Age | Count | |
|---|---|---|
| 0-9 | 0 | |
| 10-19 | 2 | |
| 20-29 | 2 | |
| 30-39 | 4 | |
| 40-49 | 1 | |
| 50-59 | 2 | |
| 60-69 | 1 | |
| 70-79 | 0 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 11,949 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 | 29.1 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 2,000 | 33.3 mi | |
| 2018 | Arson/incendiarism | 715 | 34.1 mi | |
| 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 500 | 10.9 mi | |
| 2005 | Equipment and vehicle use | 443 | 38.1 mi | |
| 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 400 | 43.0 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 340 | 48.7 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 300 | 46.4 mi | |
| 2018 | Natural | 300 | 3.6 mi | |
| 2014 | Equipment and vehicle use | 280 | 49.8 mi | |
| 2009 | Debris and open burning | 250 | 18.2 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 250 | 48.9 mi |
Top 4 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 Council Bluffs. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Council Bluffs.
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.