In 2025, fire departments serving New Hampton responded to 46 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $250K 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 76% of all calls.
Apr peaks. Aug dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
164 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $102.7M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 28 | — | |
| 2022 | 24 | -14.3% | |
| 2023 | 32 | +33.3% | |
| 2024 | 34 | +6.2% | |
| 2025 | 46 | +35.3% |
For the 8 building fires New Hampton departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 68 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 | Outside area, other | 14 | 20.6% | |
| 2 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 14 | 20.6% | |
| 3 | Undetermined | 6 | 8.8% | |
| 4 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 4 | 5.9% | |
| 5 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 4 | 5.9% | |
| 6 | Cooking area, kitchen | 3 | 4.4% | |
| 7 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 3 | 4.4% | |
| 8 | Other | 2 | 2.9% | |
| 9 | Structural area, other | 2 | 2.9% | |
| 10 | Attic: vacant, crawl space above top story, cupola | 2 | 2.9% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 14 | 20.6% |
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 New Hampton mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 20 | 29.4% | |
| 2 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 14 | 20.6% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 11 | 16.2% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 4 | 5.9% | |
| 5 | Hot ember or ash | 4 | 5.9% | |
| 6 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 2 | 2.9% | |
| 7 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 2 | 2.9% | |
| 8 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 2 | 2.9% | |
| 9 | Cigarette | 2 | 2.9% | |
| 10 | Heat source: other | 1 | 1.5% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 6 | 8.8% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by New Hampton departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $250,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $250,000 | Fires in structures other than in a building | Major | Investigated |
| 3 | $100,000 | Building or structure weakened or collapsed | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $100,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $7,500 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $5,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $1,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. New Hampton sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 3,700 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | Debris and open burning | 750 | 13.1 mi | |
| 2015 | Debris and open burning | 500 | 14.8 mi | |
| 2018 | Debris and open burning | 300 | 37.7 mi | |
| 2018 | Debris and open burning | 300 | 41.2 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 150 | 35.1 mi | |
| 2018 | Debris and open burning | 150 | 12.9 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 140 | 27.7 mi | |
| 2015 | Equipment and vehicle use | 120 | 32.2 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 100 | 23.6 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 100 | 20.1 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 85 | 7.1 mi | |
| 2018 | Debris and open burning | 85 | 47.1 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 | 50659 | 164 |
Six Iowa cities with population within ±25% of New Hampton. 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.