In 2025, fire departments serving West Branch responded to 23 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $10K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 65% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Jan dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
137 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $1.0M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 17 | — | |
| 2022 | 33 | +94.1% | |
| 2023 | 35 | +6.1% | |
| 2024 | 29 | -17.1% | |
| 2025 | 23 | -20.7% |
For the 3 building fires West Branch departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 41 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 | Undetermined | 18 | 43.9% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 6 | 14.6% | |
| 3 | Vehicle area, other | 3 | 7.3% | |
| 4 | Cargo/trunk area - all vehicles | 2 | 4.9% | |
| 5 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 2 | 4.9% | |
| 6 | Function area, other | 1 | 2.4% | |
| 7 | Storage area, other | 1 | 2.4% | |
| 8 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 1 | 2.4% | |
| 9 | Equipment or service area, other | 1 | 2.4% | |
| 10 | Ceiling & floor assembly, crawl space b/t stories | 1 | 2.4% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 5 | 12.2% |
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 West Branch mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 22 | 53.7% | |
| 2 | Heat source: other | 4 | 9.8% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 3 | 7.3% | |
| 4 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 3 | 7.3% | |
| 5 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 2 | 4.9% | |
| 6 | Hot ember or ash | 2 | 4.9% | |
| 7 | Heat, spark from friction | 1 | 2.4% | |
| 8 | Molten, hot material | 1 | 2.4% | |
| 9 | Lightning | 1 | 2.4% | |
| 10 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 1 | 2.4% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 1 | 2.4% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by West Branch departments in 2025. These 3 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $10,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $1,500 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $500 | Outside rubbish, trash or waste fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. West Branch sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 10,164 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 | 39.5 mi | |
| 2003 | Recreation and ceremony | 1,200 | 31.1 mi | |
| 2000 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 832 | 31.1 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 824 | 41.6 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 820 | 31.1 mi | |
| 2015 | Debris and open burning | 640 | 43.1 mi | |
| 2003 | Arson/incendiarism | 630 | 31.1 mi | |
| 2012 | Debris and open burning | 400 | 4.2 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 360 | 45.1 mi | |
| 1996 | Debris and open burning | 333 | 40.1 mi | |
| 2018 | Debris and open burning | 316 | 45.3 mi | |
| 2000 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 282 | 31.1 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 | 52358 | 137 |
Six Iowa cities with population within ±25% of West Branch. 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.