In 2025, fire departments serving Creston responded to 94 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $100K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Unauthorized burning lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 44% of all calls.
Sep peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
384 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $2.1M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 60 | — | |
| 2022 | 96 | +60.0% | |
| 2023 | 57 | -40.6% | |
| 2024 | 77 | +35.1% | |
| 2025 | 94 | +22.1% |
For the 11 building fires Creston departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 146 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 | Cooking area, kitchen | 16 | 11.0% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 15 | 10.3% | |
| 3 | Undetermined | 15 | 10.3% | |
| 4 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 13 | 8.9% | |
| 5 | Outside area, other | 10 | 6.8% | |
| 6 | Vehicle area, other | 8 | 5.5% | |
| 7 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 5 | 3.4% | |
| 8 | Processing/manufacturing area, workroom | 5 | 3.4% | |
| 9 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 5 | 3.4% | |
| 10 | Wall surface: exterior | 5 | 3.4% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 49 | 33.6% |
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 Creston mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 37 | 25.3% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 15 | 10.3% | |
| 3 | Hot ember or ash | 14 | 9.6% | |
| 4 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 12 | 8.2% | |
| 5 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 11 | 7.5% | |
| 6 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 9 | 6.2% | |
| 7 | Heat source: other | 7 | 4.8% | |
| 8 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 7 | 4.8% | |
| 9 | Heat, spark from friction | 5 | 3.4% | |
| 10 | Cigarette | 5 | 3.4% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 24 | 16.4% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Creston departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 93% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $40,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $30,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $25,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $14,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $12,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $10,000 | Grass fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Creston sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 6,852 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 820 | 37.9 mi | |
| 2005 | Debris and open burning | 800 | 45.4 mi | |
| 2002 | Debris and open burning | 500 | 47.2 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 400 | 45.6 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 346 | 33.2 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 320 | 33.1 mi | |
| 2002 | Arson/incendiarism | 300 | 45.6 mi | |
| 2002 | Debris and open burning | 300 | 44.5 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 300 | 43.2 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 300 | 26.3 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 300 | 19.3 mi | |
| 2002 | Debris and open burning | 200 | 45.0 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 | 50801 | 384 |
Six Iowa cities with population within ±25% of Creston. 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.