In 2025, fire departments serving Shell Rock responded to 22 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $5 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 82% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Jun dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
61 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $8 cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 0 | — | |
| 2022 | 11 | — | |
| 2023 | 11 | +0.0% | |
| 2024 | 17 | +54.5% | |
| 2025 | 22 | +29.4% |
* Well below Shell Rock'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 0 building fires Shell Rock departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 17 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 | 5 | 29.4% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 4 | 23.5% | |
| 3 | Exterior stairway, ramp, or fire escape | 1 | 5.9% | |
| 4 | Function area, other | 1 | 5.9% | |
| 5 | Cooking area, kitchen | 1 | 5.9% | |
| 6 | Storage room, area, tank, or bin | 1 | 5.9% | |
| 7 | Equipment or service area, other | 1 | 5.9% | |
| 8 | Heating room or area, water heater area | 1 | 5.9% | |
| 9 | Vehicle area, other | 1 | 5.9% | |
| 10 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 1 | 5.9% |
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 Shell Rock mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 8 | 47.1% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 4 | 23.5% | |
| 3 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 2 | 11.8% | |
| 4 | Heat source: other | 1 | 5.9% | |
| 5 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 5.9% | |
| 6 | Hot ember or ash | 1 | 5.9% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Shell Rock departments in 2025. These 1 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $5 | Grass fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Shell Rock sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 4,172 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 | 14.5 mi | |
| 2015 | Debris and open burning | 500 | 12.9 mi | |
| 2004 | Debris and open burning | 400 | 49.9 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 200 | 42.8 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 160 | 49.5 mi | |
| 2015 | Debris and open burning | 160 | 44.0 mi | |
| 2004 | Debris and open burning | 150 | 49.5 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 150 | 8.0 mi | |
| 2018 | Debris and open burning | 150 | 27.6 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 140 | 44.7 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 120 | 36.6 mi | |
| 2012 | Debris and open burning | 120 | 47.4 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 Shell Rock. 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.