In 2025, fire departments serving South Sioux City responded to 75 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $150K 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 59% of all calls.
Apr peaks. Feb dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
128 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $369K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 2 | — | |
| 2022* | 2 | — | |
| 2023* | 1 | — | |
| 2024 | 48 | — | |
| 2025 | 75 | +56.2% |
* Well below South Sioux City'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 12 building fires South Sioux City departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 32 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 | 9 | 28.1% | |
| 2 | Cooking area, kitchen | 3 | 9.4% | |
| 3 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 3 | 9.4% | |
| 4 | Cargo/trunk area - all vehicles | 3 | 9.4% | |
| 5 | Outside area, other | 2 | 6.2% | |
| 6 | Exterior stairway, ramp, or fire escape | 1 | 3.1% | |
| 7 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 1 | 3.1% | |
| 8 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 1 | 3.1% | |
| 9 | Storage: supplies or tools; dead storage | 1 | 3.1% | |
| 10 | Equipment or service area, other | 1 | 3.1% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 7 | 21.9% |
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 South Sioux City mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 9 | 28.1% | |
| 2 | Heat source: other | 5 | 15.6% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 5 | 15.6% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 4 | 12.5% | |
| 5 | Cigarette | 2 | 6.2% | |
| 6 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 2 | 6.2% | |
| 7 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 1 | 3.1% | |
| 8 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 1 | 3.1% | |
| 9 | Hot ember or ash | 1 | 3.1% | |
| 10 | Explosive, fireworks, other | 1 | 3.1% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 1 | 3.1% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by South Sioux City departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 97% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $150,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $40,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $17,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $10,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $6,500 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $5,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $3,700 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $3,500 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. South Sioux City sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 13,249 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 | 49.8 mi | |
| 2017 | Misuse of fire by a minor | 1,100 | 30.9 mi | |
| 1996 | Smoking | 800 | 24.0 mi | |
| 2002 | Fireworks | 680 | 21.2 mi | |
| 2015 | Misuse of fire by a minor | 650 | 24.4 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 600 | 49.6 mi | |
| 1999 | Smoking | 582 | 24.0 mi | |
| 2008 | Debris and open burning | 560 | 9.2 mi | |
| 2005 | Arson/incendiarism | 500 | 25.2 mi | |
| 2005 | Arson/incendiarism | 500 | 23.3 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 480 | 16.9 mi | |
| 2015 | Debris and open burning | 480 | 37.8 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 Nebraska cities with population within ±25% of South Sioux City. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in South Sioux City.
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.