In 2025, fire departments serving Urbandale responded to 242 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $200K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 55% of all calls.
Sep peaks. Oct dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
1,081 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $3.1M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 146 | — | |
| 2022 | 204 | +39.7% | |
| 2023 | 214 | +4.9% | |
| 2024 | 275 | +28.5% | |
| 2025 | 242 | -12.0% |
For the 26 building fires Urbandale departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 177 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 | 56 | 31.6% | |
| 2 | Cooking area, kitchen | 23 | 13.0% | |
| 3 | Undetermined | 12 | 6.8% | |
| 4 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 9 | 5.1% | |
| 5 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 7 | 4.0% | |
| 6 | Other | 5 | 2.8% | |
| 7 | Wall surface: exterior | 5 | 2.8% | |
| 8 | Cargo/trunk area - all vehicles | 5 | 2.8% | |
| 9 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 4 | 2.3% | |
| 10 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 4 | 2.3% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 47 | 26.6% |
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 Urbandale mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 62 | 35.0% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 29 | 16.4% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 15 | 8.5% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 14 | 7.9% | |
| 5 | Heat source: other | 7 | 4.0% | |
| 6 | Cigarette | 7 | 4.0% | |
| 7 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 6 | 3.4% | |
| 8 | Hot ember or ash | 6 | 3.4% | |
| 9 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 6 | 3.4% | |
| 10 | Cigarette lighter | 4 | 2.3% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 21 | 11.9% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Urbandale departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 82% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $200,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $200,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $100,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $100,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $50,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $35,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $30,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $27,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Urbandale sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
11 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 | 0 | |
| 20-29 | 3 | |
| 30-39 | 4 | |
| 40-49 | 2 | |
| 50-59 | 2 | |
| 60-69 | 0 | |
| 70-79 | 0 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 4,234 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | Equipment and vehicle use | 700 | 21.0 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 346 | 28.3 mi | |
| 2019 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 328 | 48.0 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 320 | 27.4 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 300 | 38.4 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 300 | 42.7 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 160 | 48.4 mi | |
| 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 150 | 30.8 mi | |
| 2015 | Debris and open burning | 150 | 45.4 mi | |
| 2012 | Debris and open burning | 120 | 39.1 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 120 | 47.4 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 105 | 31.8 mi |
Top 7 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 Urbandale. 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.