In 2025, fire departments serving Moravia responded to 17 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $15K 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 88% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Jan dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
49 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $129K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 4 | — | |
| 2022* | 4 | — | |
| 2023 | 10 | — | |
| 2024 | 14 | +40.0% | |
| 2025 | 17 | +21.4% |
* Well below Moravia'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 Moravia departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 13 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 | Undetermined | 4 | 30.8% | |
| 2 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 2 | 15.4% | |
| 3 | Other | 1 | 7.7% | |
| 4 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 1 | 7.7% | |
| 5 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 1 | 7.7% | |
| 6 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 1 | 7.7% | |
| 7 | Outside area, other | 1 | 7.7% | |
| 8 | Railroad right of way: on or near | 1 | 7.7% | |
| 9 | Courtyard, patio, porch, terrace | 1 | 7.7% |
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 Moravia mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 4 | 30.8% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 2 | 15.4% | |
| 3 | Flying brand, ember, spark | 2 | 15.4% | |
| 4 | Heat source: other | 1 | 7.7% | |
| 5 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 1 | 7.7% | |
| 6 | Cigarette lighter | 1 | 7.7% | |
| 7 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 1 | 7.7% | |
| 8 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 1 | 7.7% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Moravia departments in 2025. These 2 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $15,000 | Outside equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $3,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Moravia sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 8,972 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,200 | 24.2 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 1,000 | 35.8 mi | |
| 2005 | Debris and open burning | 800 | 39.7 mi | |
| 2017 | Debris and open burning | 640 | 16.7 mi | |
| 2020 | Debris and open burning | 500 | 22.1 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 500 | 20.0 mi | |
| 2015 | Debris and open burning | 500 | 21.2 mi | |
| 2020 | Debris and open burning | 454 | 28.5 mi | |
| 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 340 | 17.7 mi | |
| 2015 | Debris and open burning | 300 | 29.3 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 250 | 20.8 mi | |
| 2019 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 228 | 39.0 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 | 52571 | 49 |
Six Iowa cities with population within ±25% of Moravia. 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.