In 2025, fire departments serving Walcott responded to 32 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $100K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Road freight or transport vehicle fire lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 66% of all calls.
Nov peaks. Mar dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
145 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $641K cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 25 | — | |
| 2022 | 35 | +40.0% | |
| 2023 | 21 | -40.0% | |
| 2024 | 32 | +52.4% | |
| 2025 | 32 | +0.0% |
For the 3 building fires Walcott departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 34 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 | 10 | 29.4% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 10 | 29.4% | |
| 3 | Vehicle area, other | 7 | 20.6% | |
| 4 | Cooking area, kitchen | 2 | 5.9% | |
| 5 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 6 | Storage area, other | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 7 | Substructure area or space, crawl space | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 8 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 9 | Outside area, other | 1 | 2.9% |
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 Walcott mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 18 | 52.9% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 4 | 11.8% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 3 | 8.8% | |
| 4 | Heat, spark from friction | 3 | 8.8% | |
| 5 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 2 | 5.9% | |
| 6 | Heat source: other | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 7 | Hot ember or ash | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 8 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 9 | Heat from undetermined smoking material | 1 | 2.9% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Walcott departments in 2025. These 2 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $100,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $5,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Walcott sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
7 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 | 5 | |
| 10-19 | 0 | |
| 20-29 | 0 | |
| 30-39 | 1 | |
| 40-49 | 0 | |
| 50-59 | 1 | |
| 60-69 | 0 | |
| 70-79 | 0 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 9,096 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 | 1,500 | 10.2 mi | |
| 2003 | Recreation and ceremony | 1,200 | 28.9 mi | |
| 2000 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 832 | 28.9 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 820 | 28.9 mi | |
| 2015 | Debris and open burning | 640 | 14.2 mi | |
| 2003 | Arson/incendiarism | 630 | 28.9 mi | |
| 2012 | Debris and open burning | 400 | 29.6 mi | |
| 1996 | Debris and open burning | 333 | 37.4 mi | |
| 2000 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 282 | 28.9 mi | |
| 2014 | Recreation and ceremony | 265 | 42.2 mi | |
| 2000 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 232 | 28.9 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 200 | 33.4 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 | 52773 | 145 |
Six Iowa cities with population within ±25% of Walcott. 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.