In 2025, fire departments serving Primghar responded to 25 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $120K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Building fires lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 68% of all calls.
Jan peaks. Jul dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
65 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $445K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 4 | — | |
| 2022 | 14 | — | |
| 2023* | 7 | — | |
| 2024 | 15 | — | |
| 2025 | 25 | +66.7% |
* Well below Primghar'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 7 building fires Primghar departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 29 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 | 7 | 24.1% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 4 | 13.8% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 4 | 13.8% | |
| 4 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 4 | 13.8% | |
| 5 | Duct: hvac, cable, exhaust, heating, or AC | 2 | 6.9% | |
| 6 | Structural area, other | 2 | 6.9% | |
| 7 | Egress/exit, other | 1 | 3.4% | |
| 8 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 1 | 3.4% | |
| 9 | Attic: vacant, crawl space above top story, cupola | 1 | 3.4% | |
| 10 | Wall surface: exterior | 1 | 3.4% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 2 | 6.9% |
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 Primghar mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 7 | 24.1% | |
| 2 | Heat source: other | 4 | 13.8% | |
| 3 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 4 | 13.8% | |
| 4 | Hot ember or ash | 3 | 10.3% | |
| 5 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 3 | 10.3% | |
| 6 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 2 | 6.9% | |
| 7 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 2 | 6.9% | |
| 8 | Arcing | 1 | 3.4% | |
| 9 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 1 | 3.4% | |
| 10 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 1 | 3.4% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 1 | 3.4% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Primghar departments in 2025. These 5 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $120,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $55,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $15,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $10,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Primghar sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 6,427 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,000 | 43.7 mi | |
| 2015 | Equipment and vehicle use | 700 | 36.1 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 350 | 36.4 mi | |
| 2000 | Debris and open burning | 300 | 45.9 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 226 | 36.0 mi | |
| 2011 | Debris and open burning | 215 | 33.6 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 214 | 38.9 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 200 | 20.1 mi | |
| 2000 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 200 | 44.8 mi | |
| 2019 | Debris and open burning | 200 | 21.6 mi | |
| 2020 | Debris and open burning | 200 | 46.4 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 160 | 47.1 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 | 51245 | 65 |
Six Iowa cities with population within ±25% of Primghar. 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.