In 2025, fire departments serving Davenport responded to 651 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $600K 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 48% of all calls.
Jul peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
3,191 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $11.3M cumulative property loss. 6 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 584 | — | |
| 2022 | 534 | -8.6% | |
| 2023 | 643 | +20.4% | |
| 2024 | 779 | +21.2% | |
| 2025 | 651 | -16.4% |
For the 44 building fires Davenport departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 995 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 | 203 | 20.4% | |
| 2 | Cooking area, kitchen | 141 | 14.2% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 125 | 12.6% | |
| 4 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 100 | 10.1% | |
| 5 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 46 | 4.6% | |
| 6 | Vehicle area, other | 34 | 3.4% | |
| 7 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 32 | 3.2% | |
| 8 | Other | 25 | 2.5% | |
| 9 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 25 | 2.5% | |
| 10 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 24 | 2.4% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 240 | 24.1% |
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 Davenport mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 558 | 56.1% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 74 | 7.4% | |
| 3 | Heat source: other | 57 | 5.7% | |
| 4 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 51 | 5.1% | |
| 5 | Arcing | 30 | 3.0% | |
| 6 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 24 | 2.4% | |
| 7 | Cigarette | 23 | 2.3% | |
| 8 | Match | 22 | 2.2% | |
| 9 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 19 | 1.9% | |
| 10 | Hot ember or ash | 19 | 1.9% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 118 | 11.9% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Davenport departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 73% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $600,000 | Outside rubbish fire, other | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $182,770 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $95,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $90,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $57,500 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Davenport sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
18 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 | 2 | |
| 40-49 | 5 | |
| 50-59 | 4 | |
| 60-69 | 2 | |
| 70-79 | 0 | |
| 80+ | 1 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 9,096 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 | 5.0 mi | |
| 2003 | Recreation and ceremony | 1,200 | 32.7 mi | |
| 2000 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 832 | 32.7 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 820 | 32.7 mi | |
| 2015 | Debris and open burning | 640 | 8.4 mi | |
| 2003 | Arson/incendiarism | 630 | 32.7 mi | |
| 2012 | Debris and open burning | 400 | 38.5 mi | |
| 1996 | Debris and open burning | 333 | 39.8 mi | |
| 2000 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 282 | 32.7 mi | |
| 2014 | Recreation and ceremony | 265 | 37.6 mi | |
| 2000 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 232 | 32.7 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 200 | 42.6 mi |
Top 9 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 Davenport. 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.