In 2025, fire departments serving Manning responded to 27 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $200K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Grass fire lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 70% of all calls.
Jan peaks. Feb dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
50 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $205K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 1 | — | |
| 2022 | 9 | — | |
| 2023 | 7 | -22.2% | |
| 2024 | 6 | -14.3% | |
| 2025 | 27 | +350.0% |
* Well below Manning'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 4 building fires Manning departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 9 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 | 44.4% | |
| 2 | Storage area, other | 1 | 11.1% | |
| 3 | Incinerator area | 1 | 11.1% | |
| 4 | Attic: vacant, crawl space above top story, cupola | 1 | 11.1% | |
| 5 | Outside area, other | 1 | 11.1% | |
| 6 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 1 | 11.1% |
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 Manning mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Heat source: other | 3 | 33.3% | |
| 2 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 2 | 22.2% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 1 | 11.1% | |
| 4 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 1 | 11.1% | |
| 5 | Arcing | 1 | 11.1% | |
| 6 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 1 | 11.1% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Manning departments in 2025. These 2 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $200,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $5,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Manning sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 9,140 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 4,000 | 45.6 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 600 | 32.4 mi | |
| 2015 | Debris and open burning | 480 | 46.9 mi | |
| 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 400 | 40.7 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 340 | 13.1 mi | |
| 2015 | Debris and open burning | 340 | 47.0 mi | |
| 2019 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 328 | 23.1 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 300 | 46.3 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 300 | 45.0 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 250 | 45.9 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 220 | 40.1 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 202 | 46.2 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 | 51455 | 50 |
Six Iowa cities with population within ±25% of Manning. 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.