In 2025, fire departments serving New London responded to 13 fire and hazmat incidents . 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.
Mar peaks. May dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
54 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $71K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 12 | — | |
| 2022 | 13 | +8.3% | |
| 2023 | 7 | -46.2% | |
| 2024 | 9 | +28.6% | |
| 2025 | 13 | +44.4% |
For the 1 building fires New London departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 8 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 | 3 | 37.5% | |
| 2 | Other | 1 | 12.5% | |
| 3 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 1 | 12.5% | |
| 4 | Cooking area, kitchen | 1 | 12.5% | |
| 5 | Bathroom, checkroom, lavatory, locker room | 1 | 12.5% | |
| 6 | Structural area, other | 1 | 12.5% |
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 London mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 3 | 37.5% | |
| 2 | Heat source: other | 1 | 12.5% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 1 | 12.5% | |
| 4 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 1 | 12.5% | |
| 5 | Arcing | 1 | 12.5% | |
| 6 | Hot ember or ash | 1 | 12.5% |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. New London sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 6,871 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | Recreation and ceremony | 1,200 | 28.1 mi | |
| 2000 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 832 | 28.1 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 820 | 28.1 mi | |
| 2003 | Arson/incendiarism | 630 | 28.1 mi | |
| 2012 | Debris and open burning | 400 | 47.2 mi | |
| 1996 | Debris and open burning | 333 | 20.6 mi | |
| 2000 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 282 | 28.1 mi | |
| 2000 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 232 | 28.1 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 200 | 33.4 mi | |
| 2018 | Debris and open burning | 180 | 11.5 mi | |
| 2000 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 174 | 28.1 mi | |
| 2017 | Smoking | 150 | 27.7 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 | 52645 | 54 |
Six Iowa cities with population within ±25% of New London. 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.