In 2025, fire departments serving Le Grand responded to 10 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $5K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 100% of all calls.
Apr peaks. Feb dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
25 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $59K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 5 | — | |
| 2022 | 3 | -40.0% | |
| 2023 | 3 | +0.0% | |
| 2024 | 4 | +33.3% | |
| 2025 | 10 | +150.0% |
For the 0 building fires Le Grand departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 7 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 | 4 | 57.1% | |
| 2 | Bathroom, checkroom, lavatory, locker room | 1 | 14.3% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 1 | 14.3% | |
| 4 | Undetermined | 1 | 14.3% |
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 Le Grand mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 5 | 71.4% | |
| 2 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 1 | 14.3% | |
| 3 | Chemical, natural heat source, other | 1 | 14.3% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Le Grand departments in 2025. These 2 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $5,000 | Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $4,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Le Grand sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 7,030 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 1,000 | 42.9 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 824 | 35.8 mi | |
| 2017 | Equipment and vehicle use | 700 | 36.8 mi | |
| 2018 | Debris and open burning | 402 | 26.9 mi | |
| 2004 | Debris and open burning | 400 | 4.1 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 360 | 32.3 mi | |
| 2018 | Debris and open burning | 316 | 32.1 mi | |
| 2011 | Debris and open burning | 250 | 23.5 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 250 | 19.1 mi | |
| 2020 | Debris and open burning | 228 | 35.3 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 200 | 6.8 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 200 | 40.8 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 | 50142 | 25 |
Six Iowa cities with population within ±25% of Le Grand. 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.