In 2025, fire departments serving Polk City responded to 28 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $300K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Water vehicle fire lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 71% of all calls.
Jan peaks. Jun dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
84 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $325K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 0 | — | |
| 2022* | 6 | — | |
| 2023 | 17 | — | |
| 2024 | 33 | +94.1% | |
| 2025 | 28 | -15.2% |
* Well below Polk City'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 3 building fires Polk City departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 9 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 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 2 | 22.2% | |
| 2 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 2 | 22.2% | |
| 3 | Structural area, other | 1 | 11.1% | |
| 4 | Exterior, exposed surface | 1 | 11.1% | |
| 5 | Outside area, other | 1 | 11.1% | |
| 6 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 1 | 11.1% | |
| 7 | Wildland, woods | 1 | 11.1% |
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 Polk City mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 2 | 22.2% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 2 | 22.2% | |
| 3 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 2 | 22.2% | |
| 4 | Undetermined | 2 | 22.2% | |
| 5 | Heat from undetermined smoking material | 1 | 11.1% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Polk City departments in 2025. These 1 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $300,000 | Water vehicle fire | Major | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Polk City sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 3,934 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | Equipment and vehicle use | 700 | 14.6 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 346 | 38.0 mi | |
| 2019 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 328 | 48.0 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 320 | 37.2 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 300 | 45.9 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 160 | 39.0 mi | |
| 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 150 | 39.9 mi | |
| 2012 | Debris and open burning | 120 | 49.2 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 120 | 48.4 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 105 | 36.7 mi | |
| 2013 | Debris and open burning | 100 | 17.8 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 100 | 14.7 mi |
Top 2 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 Polk City. 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.