In 2025, fire departments serving Harlan responded to 22 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $100K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Incomplete 2025 data. Harlan's departments reported 22 incidents to NFIRS for 2025, against about 41 in a typical year, so 2025 figures on this page undercount. The 2021–2025 totals are the better guide.
Building fires lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 82% of all calls.
Sep peaks. Apr dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
203 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $677K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 25 | — | |
| 2022 | 53 | +112.0% | |
| 2023 | 39 | -26.4% | |
| 2024 | 64 | +64.1% | |
| 2025* | 22 | — |
* Well below Harlan'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 9 building fires Harlan departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 41 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 | 6 | 14.6% | |
| 2 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 5 | 12.2% | |
| 3 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 4 | 9.8% | |
| 4 | Outside area, other | 3 | 7.3% | |
| 5 | Dining room, cafeteria bar area, beverage service | 2 | 4.9% | |
| 6 | Attic: vacant, crawl space above top story, cupola | 2 | 4.9% | |
| 7 | Undetermined | 2 | 4.9% | |
| 8 | Corridor, mall | 1 | 2.4% | |
| 9 | Entrance way, lobby | 1 | 2.4% | |
| 10 | Assembly area - less than 100 persons | 1 | 2.4% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 14 | 34.1% |
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 Harlan mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Arcing | 12 | 29.3% | |
| 2 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 6 | 14.6% | |
| 3 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 4 | 9.8% | |
| 4 | Hot ember or ash | 4 | 9.8% | |
| 5 | Undetermined | 4 | 9.8% | |
| 6 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 2 | 4.9% | |
| 7 | Flying brand, ember, spark | 2 | 4.9% | |
| 8 | Heat, spark from friction | 1 | 2.4% | |
| 9 | Molten, hot material | 1 | 2.4% | |
| 10 | Match | 1 | 2.4% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 4 | 9.8% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Harlan departments in 2025. These 5 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $15,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $5,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $1,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Harlan sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 10,765 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 | 26.2 mi | |
| 2018 | Arson/incendiarism | 715 | 39.6 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 600 | 43.1 mi | |
| 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 500 | 47.9 mi | |
| 2015 | Debris and open burning | 480 | 41.9 mi | |
| 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 400 | 30.7 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 340 | 9.5 mi | |
| 2015 | Debris and open burning | 340 | 42.3 mi | |
| 2019 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 328 | 41.8 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 300 | 37.2 mi | |
| 2018 | Natural | 300 | 42.8 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 300 | 46.8 mi |
Top 2 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 Harlan. 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.