In 2025, fire departments serving Swisher responded to 28 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $3K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Forest, woods or wildland fire lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 61% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Feb dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
161 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $645K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 24 | — | |
| 2022 | 43 | +79.2% | |
| 2023 | 24 | -44.2% | |
| 2024 | 42 | +75.0% | |
| 2025 | 28 | -33.3% |
For the 3 building fires Swisher departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 51 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 | 10 | 19.6% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 9 | 17.6% | |
| 3 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 5 | 9.8% | |
| 4 | Cooking area, kitchen | 4 | 7.8% | |
| 5 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 4 | 7.8% | |
| 6 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 4 | 7.8% | |
| 7 | Other | 2 | 3.9% | |
| 8 | Vehicle area, other | 2 | 3.9% | |
| 9 | Exterior, exposed surface | 2 | 3.9% | |
| 10 | Wildland, woods | 2 | 3.9% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 7 | 13.7% |
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 Swisher mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 26 | 51.0% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 5 | 9.8% | |
| 3 | Heat source: other | 4 | 7.8% | |
| 4 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 3 | 5.9% | |
| 5 | Arcing | 2 | 3.9% | |
| 6 | Hot ember or ash | 2 | 3.9% | |
| 7 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 2 | 3.9% | |
| 8 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 2 | 3.9% | |
| 9 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 1 | 2.0% | |
| 10 | Heat, spark from friction | 1 | 2.0% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 3 | 5.9% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Swisher departments in 2025. These 1 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $2,500 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Swisher sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
5 fire-related casualties recorded in NFIRS Module 11 across the 2021–2025 window. Age, gender, and severity are coarse-binned — no individual identification possible.
| Age | Count | |
|---|---|---|
| 0-9 | 0 | |
| 10-19 | 1 | |
| 20-29 | 2 | |
| 30-39 | 2 | |
| 40-49 | 0 | |
| 50-59 | 0 | |
| 60-69 | 0 | |
| 70-79 | 0 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 5,401 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 824 | 22.1 mi | |
| 2018 | Debris and open burning | 402 | 30.5 mi | |
| 2012 | Debris and open burning | 400 | 24.4 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 360 | 25.3 mi | |
| 2018 | Debris and open burning | 316 | 25.6 mi | |
| 2011 | Debris and open burning | 250 | 33.4 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 250 | 37.6 mi | |
| 2020 | Debris and open burning | 228 | 22.9 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 200 | 17.1 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 200 | 32.5 mi | |
| 2018 | Arson/incendiarism | 175 | 47.1 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 160 | 41.9 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 | 52338 | 161 |
Six Iowa cities with population within ±25% of Swisher. 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.