In 2025, fire departments serving Waterloo responded to 31 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $100K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Grass fire lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 49% of all calls.
Apr peaks. Jan dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
116 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $1.7M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 26 | — | |
| 2022* | 8 | — | |
| 2023* | 6 | — | |
| 2024 | 45 | — | |
| 2025 | 31 | -31.1% |
* Well below Waterloo'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 2 building fires Waterloo 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 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 7 | 21.9% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 6 | 18.8% | |
| 3 | Undetermined | 4 | 12.5% | |
| 4 | Wall surface: exterior | 2 | 6.2% | |
| 5 | Wildland, woods | 2 | 6.2% | |
| 6 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 1 | 3.1% | |
| 7 | Cooking area, kitchen | 1 | 3.1% | |
| 8 | Storage area, other | 1 | 3.1% | |
| 9 | Storage room, area, tank, or bin | 1 | 3.1% | |
| 10 | Machinery room or area; elevator machinery room | 1 | 3.1% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 6 | 18.8% |
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 Waterloo mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 8 | 25.0% | |
| 2 | Flying brand, ember, spark | 5 | 15.6% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 3 | 9.4% | |
| 4 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 3 | 9.4% | |
| 5 | Hot ember or ash | 3 | 9.4% | |
| 6 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 2 | 6.2% | |
| 7 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 2 | 6.2% | |
| 8 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 2 | 6.2% | |
| 9 | Cigarette lighter | 1 | 3.1% | |
| 10 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 1 | 3.1% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 2 | 6.2% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Waterloo departments in 2025. These 3 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $100,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $80,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $5,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Waterloo sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 18 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 511 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 | 154 | 27.4 mi | |
| 2019 | Debris and open burning | 58 | 49.1 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 50 | 28.6 mi | |
| 2002 | Recreation and ceremony | 35 | 4.5 mi | |
| 2019 | Equipment and vehicle use | 25 | 28.6 mi | |
| 2019 | Equipment and vehicle use | 25 | 46.6 mi | |
| 2019 | Natural | 22 | 36.6 mi | |
| 2004 | Debris and open burning | 20 | 3.2 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 16 | 48.4 mi | |
| 2018 | Equipment and vehicle use | 15 | 42.1 mi | |
| 2019 | Equipment and vehicle use | 15 | 43.6 mi | |
| 2017 | Arson/incendiarism | 12 | 44.9 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 | 46793 | 116 |
Six Indiana cities with population within ±25% of Waterloo. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Waterloo.
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.