In 2025, fire departments serving Osceola responded to 65 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $80K 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 79% of all calls.
Jan peaks. Jun dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
281 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $2.7M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 47 | — | |
| 2022 | 76 | +61.7% | |
| 2023 | 36 | -52.6% | |
| 2024 | 57 | +58.3% | |
| 2025 | 65 | +14.0% |
For the 15 building fires Osceola departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 95 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 | 29 | 30.5% | |
| 2 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 8 | 8.4% | |
| 3 | Other | 7 | 7.4% | |
| 4 | Vehicle area, other | 7 | 7.4% | |
| 5 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 7 | 7.4% | |
| 6 | Outside area, other | 5 | 5.3% | |
| 7 | Cooking area, kitchen | 4 | 4.2% | |
| 8 | Attic: vacant, crawl space above top story, cupola | 4 | 4.2% | |
| 9 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 3 | 3.2% | |
| 10 | Dining room, cafeteria bar area, beverage service | 2 | 2.1% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 19 | 20.0% |
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 Osceola mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 33 | 34.7% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 13 | 13.7% | |
| 3 | Heat source: other | 10 | 10.5% | |
| 4 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 9 | 9.5% | |
| 5 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 9 | 9.5% | |
| 6 | Arcing | 7 | 7.4% | |
| 7 | Heat, spark from friction | 3 | 3.2% | |
| 8 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 2 | 2.1% | |
| 9 | Cigarette lighter | 2 | 2.1% | |
| 10 | Cigarette | 1 | 1.1% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 6 | 6.3% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Osceola departments in 2025. These 5 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $80,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $10,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $10,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $1,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $1 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Osceola sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 9,029 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 | 28.7 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 820 | 48.2 mi | |
| 2005 | Debris and open burning | 800 | 19.6 mi | |
| 2002 | Debris and open burning | 500 | 46.5 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 500 | 38.2 mi | |
| 2015 | Debris and open burning | 500 | 31.9 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 400 | 44.3 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 346 | 13.8 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 327 | 48.4 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 320 | 14.6 mi | |
| 2002 | Arson/incendiarism | 300 | 44.3 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 300 | 50.0 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 | 50213 | 281 |
Six Iowa cities with population within ±25% of Osceola. 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.