In 2025, fire departments serving Evansdale responded to 20 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $50K 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 75% of all calls.
Mar peaks. May dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
120 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $309K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 18 | — | |
| 2022 | 18 | +0.0% | |
| 2023 | 37 | +105.6% | |
| 2024 | 27 | -27.0% | |
| 2025 | 20 | -25.9% |
For the 2 building fires Evansdale departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 33 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 | 10 | 30.3% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 6 | 18.2% | |
| 3 | Cooking area, kitchen | 3 | 9.1% | |
| 4 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 2 | 6.1% | |
| 5 | Attic: vacant, crawl space above top story, cupola | 2 | 6.1% | |
| 6 | Vehicle area, other | 2 | 6.1% | |
| 7 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 2 | 6.1% | |
| 8 | Entrance way, lobby | 1 | 3.0% | |
| 9 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 1 | 3.0% | |
| 10 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 1 | 3.0% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 3 | 9.1% |
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 Evansdale mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 13 | 39.4% | |
| 2 | Heat source: other | 5 | 15.2% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 4 | 12.1% | |
| 4 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 2 | 6.1% | |
| 5 | Arcing | 2 | 6.1% | |
| 6 | Hot ember or ash | 2 | 6.1% | |
| 7 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 3.0% | |
| 8 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 1 | 3.0% | |
| 9 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 1 | 3.0% | |
| 10 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 1 | 3.0% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 1 | 3.0% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Evansdale departments in 2025. These 2 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $5,000 | Cooking fire, confined to container | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Evansdale sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 6,610 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 | 824 | 44.6 mi | |
| 2015 | Debris and open burning | 750 | 32.3 mi | |
| 2015 | Debris and open burning | 500 | 31.6 mi | |
| 2018 | Debris and open burning | 402 | 41.1 mi | |
| 2004 | Debris and open burning | 400 | 38.8 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 360 | 43.2 mi | |
| 2018 | Debris and open burning | 316 | 43.3 mi | |
| 2011 | Debris and open burning | 250 | 38.9 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 250 | 37.3 mi | |
| 2020 | Debris and open burning | 228 | 45.2 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 200 | 38.7 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 200 | 19.7 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 | 50707 | 120 |
Six Iowa cities with population within ±25% of Evansdale. 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.