In 2025, fire departments serving Oxford responded to 48 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $28K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Natural vegetation fire, other lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 46% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Aug dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
208 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $991K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 10 | — | |
| 2022 | 44 | — | |
| 2023 | 57 | +29.5% | |
| 2024 | 49 | -14.0% | |
| 2025 | 48 | -2.0% |
* Well below Oxford'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 2 building fires Oxford departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 60 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 | 18 | 30.0% | |
| 2 | Other | 8 | 13.3% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 8 | 13.3% | |
| 4 | Vehicle area, other | 6 | 10.0% | |
| 5 | Outside area, other | 6 | 10.0% | |
| 6 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 2 | 3.3% | |
| 7 | Wildland, woods | 2 | 3.3% | |
| 8 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 1 | 1.7% | |
| 9 | Cooking area, kitchen | 1 | 1.7% | |
| 10 | Storage area, other | 1 | 1.7% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 7 | 11.7% |
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 Oxford mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 31 | 51.7% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 5 | 8.3% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 4 | 6.7% | |
| 4 | Heat source: other | 3 | 5.0% | |
| 5 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 3 | 5.0% | |
| 6 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 3 | 5.0% | |
| 7 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 2 | 3.3% | |
| 8 | Hot ember or ash | 2 | 3.3% | |
| 9 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 2 | 3.3% | |
| 10 | Heat, spark from friction | 1 | 1.7% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 4 | 6.7% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Oxford departments in 2025. These 5 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $28,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $15,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $5,500 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $2,000 | Natural vegetation fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $400 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Oxford sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 9,780 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 | 48.3 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 1,000 | 49.7 mi | |
| 2000 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 832 | 48.3 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 824 | 18.5 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 820 | 48.3 mi | |
| 2003 | Arson/incendiarism | 630 | 48.3 mi | |
| 2018 | Debris and open burning | 402 | 27.4 mi | |
| 2012 | Debris and open burning | 400 | 24.3 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 360 | 22.0 mi | |
| 2018 | Debris and open burning | 316 | 22.2 mi | |
| 2000 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 282 | 48.3 mi | |
| 2011 | Debris and open burning | 250 | 30.8 mi |
Top 3 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 Oxford. 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.