In 2025, fire departments serving Tama responded to 35 fire and hazmat incidents . Here's the full picture.
Grass fire lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 74% of all calls.
Apr peaks. Feb dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
230 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $155K cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 35 | — | |
| 2022 | 54 | +54.3% | |
| 2023 | 53 | -1.9% | |
| 2024 | 53 | +0.0% | |
| 2025 | 35 | -34.0% |
For the 5 building fires Tama departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 85 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 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 35 | 41.2% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 19 | 22.4% | |
| 3 | Cooking area, kitchen | 4 | 4.7% | |
| 4 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 4 | 4.7% | |
| 5 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 2 | 2.4% | |
| 6 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 2 | 2.4% | |
| 7 | Vehicle area, other | 2 | 2.4% | |
| 8 | Exterior, exposed surface | 2 | 2.4% | |
| 9 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 2 | 2.4% | |
| 10 | Other | 1 | 1.2% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 12 | 14.1% |
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 Tama mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 29 | 34.1% | |
| 2 | Match | 8 | 9.4% | |
| 3 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 6 | 7.1% | |
| 4 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 6 | 7.1% | |
| 5 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 6 | 7.1% | |
| 6 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 5 | 5.9% | |
| 7 | Arcing | 5 | 5.9% | |
| 8 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 4 | 4.7% | |
| 9 | Cigarette lighter | 3 | 3.5% | |
| 10 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 3 | 3.5% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 10 | 11.8% |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Tama sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 7,030 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 1,000 | 39.7 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 824 | 25.1 mi | |
| 2017 | Equipment and vehicle use | 700 | 45.6 mi | |
| 2018 | Debris and open burning | 402 | 16.3 mi | |
| 2004 | Debris and open burning | 400 | 6.6 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 360 | 21.7 mi | |
| 2018 | Debris and open burning | 316 | 21.5 mi | |
| 2011 | Debris and open burning | 250 | 12.8 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 250 | 8.4 mi | |
| 2020 | Debris and open burning | 228 | 24.7 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 200 | 4.0 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 200 | 33.2 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 | 52339 | 230 |
Six Iowa cities with population within ±25% of Tama. 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.