In 2025, fire departments serving Iowa City responded to 308 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $400K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Building fires lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 36% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
885 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $5.7M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 32 | — | |
| 2022* | 47 | — | |
| 2023 | 330 | — | |
| 2024 | 168 | -49.1% | |
| 2025 | 308 | +83.3% |
* Well below Iowa City'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 29 building fires Iowa City departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 208 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 | 34 | 16.3% | |
| 2 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 24 | 11.5% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 19 | 9.1% | |
| 4 | Undetermined | 18 | 8.7% | |
| 5 | Cooking area, kitchen | 17 | 8.2% | |
| 6 | Wildland, woods | 16 | 7.7% | |
| 7 | Exterior, exposed surface | 7 | 3.4% | |
| 8 | Vehicle area, other | 6 | 2.9% | |
| 9 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 6 | 2.9% | |
| 10 | Other | 5 | 2.4% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 56 | 26.9% |
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 Iowa City mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 88 | 42.3% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 19 | 9.1% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 16 | 7.7% | |
| 4 | Hot ember or ash | 13 | 6.2% | |
| 5 | Arcing | 10 | 4.8% | |
| 6 | Heat, spark from friction | 10 | 4.8% | |
| 7 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 9 | 4.3% | |
| 8 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 9 | 4.3% | |
| 9 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 7 | 3.4% | |
| 10 | Cigarette | 6 | 2.9% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 21 | 10.1% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Iowa City departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 92% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $400,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $150,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $100,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $40,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $15,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $15,000 | Outside rubbish, trash or waste fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Iowa City sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 10,353 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 | 49.1 mi | |
| 2003 | Recreation and ceremony | 1,200 | 35.6 mi | |
| 2000 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 832 | 35.6 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 824 | 32.7 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 820 | 35.6 mi | |
| 2003 | Arson/incendiarism | 630 | 35.6 mi | |
| 2018 | Debris and open burning | 402 | 41.6 mi | |
| 2012 | Debris and open burning | 400 | 10.1 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 360 | 36.2 mi | |
| 1996 | Debris and open burning | 333 | 43.5 mi | |
| 2018 | Debris and open burning | 316 | 36.4 mi | |
| 2000 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 282 | 35.6 mi |
Top 10 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 Iowa City. 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.