In 2025, fire departments serving Shelby responded to 14 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $10K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Road freight or transport vehicle fire lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 71% of all calls.
Jul peaks. Mar dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
49 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $61K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 8 | — | |
| 2022 | 10 | +25.0% | |
| 2023 | 8 | -20.0% | |
| 2024 | 9 | +12.5% | |
| 2025 | 14 | +55.6% |
For the 0 building fires Shelby departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 12 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 | 3 | 25.0% | |
| 2 | Cooking area, kitchen | 2 | 16.7% | |
| 3 | Undetermined | 2 | 16.7% | |
| 4 | Structural area, other | 1 | 8.3% | |
| 5 | Vehicle area, other | 1 | 8.3% | |
| 6 | Cargo/trunk area - all vehicles | 1 | 8.3% | |
| 7 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 1 | 8.3% | |
| 8 | Wildland, woods | 1 | 8.3% |
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 Shelby mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 3 | 25.0% | |
| 2 | Heat source: other | 2 | 16.7% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 1 | 8.3% | |
| 4 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 8.3% | |
| 5 | Arcing | 1 | 8.3% | |
| 6 | Hot ember or ash | 1 | 8.3% | |
| 7 | Other static discharge | 1 | 8.3% | |
| 8 | Flying brand, ember, spark | 1 | 8.3% | |
| 9 | Undetermined | 1 | 8.3% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Shelby departments in 2025. These 3 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $10,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $5,000 | Camper or recreational vehicle (RV) fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $1,000 | Cooking fire, confined to container | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Shelby sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 9,961 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 | 18.2 mi | |
| 2018 | Arson/incendiarism | 715 | 35.6 mi | |
| 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 500 | 36.2 mi | |
| 2015 | Debris and open burning | 480 | 44.6 mi | |
| 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 400 | 32.0 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 340 | 21.2 mi | |
| 2015 | Debris and open burning | 340 | 45.1 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 300 | 38.1 mi | |
| 2018 | Natural | 300 | 31.4 mi | |
| 2009 | Debris and open burning | 250 | 37.1 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 250 | 39.7 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 202 | 34.0 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 | 51570 | 49 |
Six Iowa cities with population within ±25% of Shelby. 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.