In 2025, fire departments serving Waukee responded to 181 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $900K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Building fires lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 46% of all calls.
May peaks. Sep dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
724 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $4.2M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 105 | — | |
| 2022 | 129 | +22.9% | |
| 2023 | 155 | +20.2% | |
| 2024 | 154 | -0.6% | |
| 2025 | 181 | +17.5% |
For the 34 building fires Waukee departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 120 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 | 24 | 20.0% | |
| 2 | Cooking area, kitchen | 21 | 17.5% | |
| 3 | Cargo/trunk area - all vehicles | 9 | 7.5% | |
| 4 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 7 | 5.8% | |
| 5 | Undetermined | 7 | 5.8% | |
| 6 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 6 | 5.0% | |
| 7 | Courtyard, patio, porch, terrace | 6 | 5.0% | |
| 8 | Exterior, exposed surface | 4 | 3.3% | |
| 9 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 4 | 3.3% | |
| 10 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 3 | 2.5% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 29 | 24.2% |
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 Waukee mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 31 | 25.8% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 30 | 25.0% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 12 | 10.0% | |
| 4 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 7 | 5.8% | |
| 5 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 6 | 5.0% | |
| 6 | Heat, spark from friction | 4 | 3.3% | |
| 7 | Molten, hot material | 4 | 3.3% | |
| 8 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 4 | 3.3% | |
| 9 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 3 | 2.5% | |
| 10 | Hot ember or ash | 3 | 2.5% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 16 | 13.3% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Waukee departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 95% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $900,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $550,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Major | Investigated |
| 3 | $280,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 4 | $115,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $61,309 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $30,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $28,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $20,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Waukee sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
9 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 | 2 | |
| 30-39 | 4 | |
| 40-49 | 3 | |
| 50-59 | 0 | |
| 60-69 | 0 | |
| 70-79 | 0 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 4,159 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 | 27.1 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 346 | 26.2 mi | |
| 2019 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 328 | 44.6 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 320 | 25.3 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 300 | 32.3 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 300 | 38.9 mi | |
| 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 150 | 29.7 mi | |
| 2015 | Debris and open burning | 150 | 47.3 mi | |
| 2012 | Debris and open burning | 120 | 34.3 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 115 | 48.0 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 105 | 26.4 mi | |
| 2015 | Debris and open burning | 100 | 44.6 mi |
Top 4 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 Waukee. 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.