In 2025, fire departments serving Hudson responded to 27 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $500 building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Grass fire lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 70% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Feb dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
61 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $383K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 5 | — | |
| 2022* | 2 | — | |
| 2023* | 7 | — | |
| 2024 | 20 | — | |
| 2025 | 27 | +35.0% |
* Well below Hudson'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 0 building fires Hudson departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 14 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 | 5 | 35.7% | |
| 2 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 1 | 7.1% | |
| 3 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 1 | 7.1% | |
| 4 | Equipment or service area, other | 1 | 7.1% | |
| 5 | Roof surface: exterior | 1 | 7.1% | |
| 6 | Vehicle area, other | 1 | 7.1% | |
| 7 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 1 | 7.1% | |
| 8 | Cargo/trunk area - all vehicles | 1 | 7.1% | |
| 9 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 1 | 7.1% | |
| 10 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 1 | 7.1% |
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 Hudson mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 4 | 28.6% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 3 | 21.4% | |
| 3 | Fireworks | 2 | 14.3% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 1 | 7.1% | |
| 5 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 7.1% | |
| 6 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 1 | 7.1% | |
| 7 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 1 | 7.1% | |
| 8 | Multiple heat sources including multiple ignitions | 1 | 7.1% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Hudson departments in 2025. These 1 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $500 | Cooking fire, confined to container | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Hudson sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 6,545 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 | 45.0 mi | |
| 2015 | Debris and open burning | 750 | 32.9 mi | |
| 2015 | Debris and open burning | 500 | 31.7 mi | |
| 2018 | Debris and open burning | 402 | 39.9 mi | |
| 2004 | Debris and open burning | 400 | 32.7 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 360 | 43.0 mi | |
| 2018 | Debris and open burning | 316 | 43.1 mi | |
| 2011 | Debris and open burning | 250 | 37.0 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 250 | 34.5 mi | |
| 2020 | Debris and open burning | 228 | 45.4 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 200 | 33.1 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 200 | 24.9 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 Hudson. 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.