In 2025, fire departments serving Iuka responded to 148 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $100K 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 80% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Nov dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
627 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $3.5M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 77 | — | |
| 2022 | 79 | +2.6% | |
| 2023 | 132 | +67.1% | |
| 2024 | 191 | +44.7% | |
| 2025 | 148 | -22.5% |
For the 44 building fires Iuka departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 192 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 | 85 | 44.3% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 26 | 13.5% | |
| 3 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 11 | 5.7% | |
| 4 | Wildland, woods | 9 | 4.7% | |
| 5 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 7 | 3.6% | |
| 6 | Cooking area, kitchen | 5 | 2.6% | |
| 7 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 5 | 2.6% | |
| 8 | Outside area, other | 5 | 2.6% | |
| 9 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 5 | 2.6% | |
| 10 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 4 | 2.1% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 30 | 15.6% |
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 Iuka mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 139 | 72.4% | |
| 2 | Hot ember or ash | 12 | 6.2% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 10 | 5.2% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 6 | 3.1% | |
| 5 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 6 | 3.1% | |
| 6 | Flying brand, ember, spark | 3 | 1.6% | |
| 7 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 2 | 1.0% | |
| 8 | Heat from undetermined smoking material | 2 | 1.0% | |
| 9 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 2 | 1.0% | |
| 10 | Heat source: other | 1 | 0.5% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 9 | 4.7% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Iuka departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 95% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $40,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $18,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $6,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $5,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $5,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Iuka sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 12,395 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 | 1,344 | 7.4 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,014 | 47.8 mi | |
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 900 | 30.4 mi | |
| 1999 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 706 | 40.6 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 702 | 13.8 mi | |
| 2014 | Arson/incendiarism | 608 | 33.3 mi | |
| 2012 | Arson/incendiarism | 537 | 48.8 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 520 | 34.8 mi | |
| 2018 | Debris and open burning | 500 | 42.9 mi | |
| 1999 | Equipment and vehicle use | 460 | 42.7 mi | |
| 2007 | Arson/incendiarism | 453 | 23.2 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 425 | 48.9 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 | 38852 | 627 |
Six Mississippi cities with population within ±25% of Iuka. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Iuka.
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.