In 2025, fire departments serving Huxley responded to 24 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $340K 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 46% of all calls.
Apr peaks. Jan dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
87 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2021. $566K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 27 | — | |
| 2022 | 19 | -29.6% | |
| 2023* | 4 | — | |
| 2024 | 13 | — | |
| 2025 | 24 | +84.6% |
* Well below Huxley'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 2 building fires Huxley 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 | 12 | 46.2% | |
| 2 | Cooking area, kitchen | 2 | 7.7% | |
| 3 | Undetermined | 2 | 7.7% | |
| 4 | Storage area, other | 1 | 3.8% | |
| 5 | Storage room, area, tank, or bin | 1 | 3.8% | |
| 6 | Duct: hvac, cable, exhaust, heating, or AC | 1 | 3.8% | |
| 7 | Equipment or service area, other | 1 | 3.8% | |
| 8 | Roof surface: exterior | 1 | 3.8% | |
| 9 | Vehicle area, other | 1 | 3.8% | |
| 10 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 1 | 3.8% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 3 | 11.5% |
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 Huxley mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 8 | 30.8% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 3 | 11.5% | |
| 3 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 3 | 11.5% | |
| 4 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 3 | 11.5% | |
| 5 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 2 | 7.7% | |
| 6 | Hot ember or ash | 2 | 7.7% | |
| 7 | Heat source: other | 1 | 3.8% | |
| 8 | Arcing | 1 | 3.8% | |
| 9 | Heat, spark from friction | 1 | 3.8% | |
| 10 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 1 | 3.8% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 1 | 3.8% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Huxley departments in 2025. These 4 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $340,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $25,000 | Fire in mobile home used as fixed residence | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $5,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $3,500 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Huxley sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 4,228 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | Equipment and vehicle use | 700 | 11.0 mi | |
| 2004 | Debris and open burning | 400 | 46.5 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 346 | 47.0 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 320 | 46.2 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 200 | 48.7 mi | |
| 2004 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 175 | 48.5 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 160 | 32.1 mi | |
| 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 150 | 48.2 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 150 | 48.8 mi | |
| 2004 | Debris and open burning | 150 | 47.2 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 120 | 48.5 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 120 | 43.4 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 | 50124 | 87 |
Six Iowa cities with population within ±25% of Huxley. 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.