In 2025, fire departments serving Larchwood responded to 20 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $120K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Natural vegetation fire, other lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 75% of all calls.
Apr peaks. Jul dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
50 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $145K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 4 | — | |
| 2022 | 8 | — | |
| 2023 | 8 | +0.0% | |
| 2024 | 10 | +25.0% | |
| 2025 | 20 | +100.0% |
* Well below Larchwood'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 Larchwood departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 16 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 | 6 | 37.5% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 4 | 25.0% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 3 | 18.8% | |
| 4 | Storage area, other | 1 | 6.2% | |
| 5 | Machinery room or area; elevator machinery room | 1 | 6.2% | |
| 6 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 1 | 6.2% |
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 Larchwood mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 8 | 50.0% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 3 | 18.8% | |
| 3 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 6.2% | |
| 4 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 1 | 6.2% | |
| 5 | Arcing | 1 | 6.2% | |
| 6 | Heat, spark from friction | 1 | 6.2% | |
| 7 | Fireworks | 1 | 6.2% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Larchwood departments in 2025. These 1 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $120,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Larchwood sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 10,389 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,000 | 18.9 mi | |
| 2000 | Smoking | 1,500 | 14.1 mi | |
| 1999 | Debris and open burning | 1,400 | 19.0 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,200 | 8.8 mi | |
| 2009 | Debris and open burning | 425 | 40.3 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 350 | 17.6 mi | |
| 2000 | Debris and open burning | 300 | 40.0 mi | |
| 2020 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 250 | 34.2 mi | |
| 1999 | Equipment and vehicle use | 250 | 43.5 mi | |
| 2000 | Debris and open burning | 250 | 46.7 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 214 | 25.7 mi | |
| 2000 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 200 | 47.0 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 | 51241 | 50 |
Six Iowa cities with population within ±25% of Larchwood. 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.