In 2025, fire departments serving Mitchellville responded to 44 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $35K 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 64% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Sep dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
163 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $855K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 2 | — | |
| 2022* | 4 | — | |
| 2023 | 62 | — | |
| 2024 | 51 | -17.7% | |
| 2025 | 44 | -13.7% |
* Well below Mitchellville'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 3 building fires Mitchellville departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 48 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 | 9 | 18.8% | |
| 2 | Wall assembly | 6 | 12.5% | |
| 3 | Undetermined | 6 | 12.5% | |
| 4 | Other | 5 | 10.4% | |
| 5 | Cooking area, kitchen | 4 | 8.3% | |
| 6 | Vehicle area, other | 3 | 6.2% | |
| 7 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 2 | 4.2% | |
| 8 | Structural area, other | 2 | 4.2% | |
| 9 | Cargo/trunk area - all vehicles | 2 | 4.2% | |
| 10 | Exterior, exposed surface | 2 | 4.2% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 7 | 14.6% |
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 Mitchellville mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 12 | 25.0% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 10 | 20.8% | |
| 3 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 7 | 14.6% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 6 | 12.5% | |
| 5 | Arcing | 6 | 12.5% | |
| 6 | Heat source: other | 2 | 4.2% | |
| 7 | Match | 2 | 4.2% | |
| 8 | Multiple heat sources including multiple ignitions | 2 | 4.2% | |
| 9 | Heat from undetermined smoking material | 1 | 2.1% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Mitchellville departments in 2025. These 6 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $35,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $20,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $12,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $10,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $2,500 | Dumpster or other outside trash receptacle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $2,500 | Power line down | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Mitchellville sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 6,262 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 | 41.8 mi | |
| 2017 | Equipment and vehicle use | 700 | 9.2 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 500 | 41.2 mi | |
| 2015 | Debris and open burning | 500 | 44.3 mi | |
| 2004 | Debris and open burning | 400 | 41.2 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 346 | 36.8 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 320 | 36.4 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 250 | 43.6 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 200 | 42.6 mi | |
| 2004 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 175 | 42.6 mi | |
| 2018 | Arson/incendiarism | 175 | 44.3 mi | |
| 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 150 | 35.9 mi |
Top 6 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
Six Iowa cities with population within ±25% of Mitchellville. 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.