In 2025, fire departments serving Eldridge responded to 47 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $15K 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 47% of all calls.
Apr peaks. Oct dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
146 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $286K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 5 | — | |
| 2022 | 24 | — | |
| 2023 | 40 | +66.7% | |
| 2024 | 30 | -25.0% | |
| 2025 | 47 | +56.7% |
* Well below Eldridge'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 1 building fires Eldridge departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 26 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 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 8 | 30.8% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 5 | 19.2% | |
| 3 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 2 | 7.7% | |
| 4 | Storage area, other | 2 | 7.7% | |
| 5 | Vehicle area, other | 2 | 7.7% | |
| 6 | Other | 1 | 3.8% | |
| 7 | Closet | 1 | 3.8% | |
| 8 | Chute; laundry or mail, excluding trash chutes | 1 | 3.8% | |
| 9 | Equipment or service area, other | 1 | 3.8% | |
| 10 | Cargo/trunk area - all vehicles | 1 | 3.8% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 2 | 7.7% |
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 Eldridge mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 9 | 34.6% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 4 | 15.4% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 3 | 11.5% | |
| 4 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 2 | 7.7% | |
| 5 | Heat, spark from friction | 2 | 7.7% | |
| 6 | Candle | 2 | 7.7% | |
| 7 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 1 | 3.8% | |
| 8 | Chemical reaction | 1 | 3.8% | |
| 9 | Lightning | 1 | 3.8% | |
| 10 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 1 | 3.8% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Eldridge departments in 2025. These 5 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $15,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $750 | Special outside fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $500 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $25 | Fires in structures other than in a building | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $1 | Fire in mobile home used as fixed residence | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Eldridge sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
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 | 0.9 mi | |
| 2003 | Recreation and ceremony | 1,200 | 37.5 mi | |
| 2000 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 832 | 37.5 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 820 | 37.5 mi | |
| 2015 | Debris and open burning | 640 | 3.8 mi | |
| 2003 | Arson/incendiarism | 630 | 37.5 mi | |
| 2012 | Debris and open burning | 400 | 39.6 mi | |
| 1996 | Debris and open burning | 333 | 45.1 mi | |
| 2000 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 282 | 37.5 mi | |
| 2014 | Recreation and ceremony | 265 | 32.7 mi | |
| 2000 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 232 | 37.5 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 200 | 42.0 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 | 52748 | 146 |
Six Iowa cities with population within ±25% of Eldridge. 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.