In 2025, fire departments serving Red Oak responded to 56 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $25K 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 46% of all calls.
Feb peaks. Jul dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
189 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $159K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 2 | — | |
| 2022* | 6 | — | |
| 2023 | 54 | — | |
| 2024 | 71 | +31.5% | |
| 2025 | 56 | -21.1% |
* Well below Red Oak'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 5 building fires Red Oak departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 73 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 | Outside area, other | 12 | 16.4% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 9 | 12.3% | |
| 3 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 7 | 9.6% | |
| 4 | Undetermined | 7 | 9.6% | |
| 5 | Cooking area, kitchen | 5 | 6.8% | |
| 6 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 3 | 4.1% | |
| 7 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 3 | 4.1% | |
| 8 | Vehicle area, other | 3 | 4.1% | |
| 9 | Wildland, woods | 3 | 4.1% | |
| 10 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 2 | 2.7% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 19 | 26.0% |
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 Red Oak mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 16 | 21.9% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 12 | 16.4% | |
| 3 | Heat source: other | 7 | 9.6% | |
| 4 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 5 | 6.8% | |
| 5 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 4 | 5.5% | |
| 6 | Flying brand, ember, spark | 4 | 5.5% | |
| 7 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 3 | 4.1% | |
| 8 | Conducted heat from another fire | 3 | 4.1% | |
| 9 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 2 | 2.7% | |
| 10 | Arcing | 2 | 2.7% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 15 | 20.5% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Red Oak departments in 2025. These 6 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $25,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $20,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $10,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $8,000 | Camper or recreational vehicle (RV) fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $3,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $1,000 | Cooking fire, confined to container | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Red Oak sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 9,125 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 4,000 | 18.1 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,200 | 49.0 mi | |
| 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 500 | 33.0 mi | |
| 2018 | Natural | 300 | 38.5 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 300 | 48.7 mi | |
| 2018 | Debris and open burning | 260 | 28.9 mi | |
| 2005 | Equipment and vehicle use | 200 | 17.7 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 200 | 41.0 mi | |
| 2016 | Debris and open burning | 200 | 37.9 mi | |
| 2017 | Equipment and vehicle use | 200 | 31.1 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 200 | 34.2 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 150 | 50.0 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 Red Oak. 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.