In 2025, fire departments serving Keokuk responded to 171 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $548K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Unauthorized burning lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 61% of all calls.
Aug peaks. Jan dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
808 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $2.4M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 164 | — | |
| 2022 | 129 | -21.3% | |
| 2023 | 130 | +0.8% | |
| 2024 | 214 | +64.6% | |
| 2025 | 171 | -20.1% |
For the 15 building fires Keokuk departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 190 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 | 26 | 13.7% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 26 | 13.7% | |
| 3 | Cooking area, kitchen | 17 | 8.9% | |
| 4 | Outside area, other | 14 | 7.4% | |
| 5 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 12 | 6.3% | |
| 6 | Cargo/trunk area - all vehicles | 9 | 4.7% | |
| 7 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 8 | 4.2% | |
| 8 | Other | 6 | 3.2% | |
| 9 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 6 | 3.2% | |
| 10 | Wildland, woods | 6 | 3.2% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 60 | 31.6% |
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 Keokuk mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 91 | 47.9% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 20 | 10.5% | |
| 3 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 9 | 4.7% | |
| 4 | Hot ember or ash | 9 | 4.7% | |
| 5 | Arcing | 8 | 4.2% | |
| 6 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 8 | 4.2% | |
| 7 | Chemical reaction | 8 | 4.2% | |
| 8 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 7 | 3.7% | |
| 9 | Heat source: other | 6 | 3.2% | |
| 10 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 3 | 1.6% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 21 | 11.1% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Keokuk departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 95% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $547,800 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $161,350 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $150,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $100,000 | Outside gas or vapor combustion explosion | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $30,060 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $30,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $21,600 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Keokuk sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 3,113 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | Debris and open burning | 280 | 16.4 mi | |
| 1999 | Equipment and vehicle use | 238 | 38.7 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 210 | 49.8 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 200 | 42.3 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 200 | 33.2 mi | |
| 2002 | Debris and open burning | 180 | 47.4 mi | |
| 2018 | Debris and open burning | 180 | 34.3 mi | |
| 2017 | Smoking | 150 | 39.5 mi | |
| 2020 | Debris and open burning | 120 | 49.6 mi | |
| 2018 | Debris and open burning | 108 | 17.6 mi | |
| 2018 | Debris and open burning | 107 | 30.2 mi | |
| 1994 | Debris and open burning | 100 | 18.5 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 | 52632 | 808 |
Six Iowa cities with population within ±25% of Keokuk. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Keokuk.
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.