In 2025, fire departments serving Postville responded to 67 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $45K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Vehicle accident, general cleanup lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 75% of all calls.
Apr peaks. Jun dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
152 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $161K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 7 | — | |
| 2022* | 4 | — | |
| 2023 | 29 | — | |
| 2024 | 45 | +55.2% | |
| 2025 | 67 | +48.9% |
* Well below Postville'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 6 building fires Postville departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 27 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 | 7 | 25.9% | |
| 2 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 4 | 14.8% | |
| 3 | Bathroom, checkroom, lavatory, locker room | 2 | 7.4% | |
| 4 | Exterior, exposed surface | 2 | 7.4% | |
| 5 | Assembly area - less than 100 persons | 1 | 3.7% | |
| 6 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 1 | 3.7% | |
| 7 | Cooking area, kitchen | 1 | 3.7% | |
| 8 | Substructure area or space, crawl space | 1 | 3.7% | |
| 9 | Wall assembly | 1 | 3.7% | |
| 10 | Vehicle area, other | 1 | 3.7% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 6 | 22.2% |
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 Postville mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 8 | 29.6% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 4 | 14.8% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 3 | 11.1% | |
| 4 | Heat, spark from friction | 2 | 7.4% | |
| 5 | Cigarette | 2 | 7.4% | |
| 6 | Match | 2 | 7.4% | |
| 7 | Heat source: other | 1 | 3.7% | |
| 8 | Arcing | 1 | 3.7% | |
| 9 | Candle | 1 | 3.7% | |
| 10 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 1 | 3.7% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 2 | 7.4% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Postville departments in 2025. These 2 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $45,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $15,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Postville sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 4,039 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 | 47.5 mi | |
| 2015 | Debris and open burning | 500 | 49.0 mi | |
| 2018 | Debris and open burning | 300 | 14.2 mi | |
| 2018 | Debris and open burning | 300 | 13.9 mi | |
| 2012 | Equipment and vehicle use | 195 | 46.4 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 189 | 34.5 mi | |
| 2012 | Equipment and vehicle use | 166 | 32.8 mi | |
| 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 165 | 38.2 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 140 | 12.9 mi | |
| 1999 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 124 | 34.0 mi | |
| 2015 | Equipment and vehicle use | 120 | 36.2 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 100 | 17.8 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 | 52162 | 152 |
Six Iowa cities with population within ±25% of Postville. 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.