In 2025, fire departments serving West Burlington responded to 25 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $25K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Fire, other lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 52% of all calls.
Apr peaks. Feb dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
71 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $288K cumulative property loss. 2 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 8 | — | |
| 2022 | 13 | — | |
| 2023 | 11 | -15.4% | |
| 2024 | 14 | +27.3% | |
| 2025 | 25 | +78.6% |
* Well below West Burlington'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 1 building fires West Burlington departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 24 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 | 7 | 29.2% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 5 | 20.8% | |
| 3 | Cooking area, kitchen | 2 | 8.3% | |
| 4 | Other | 1 | 4.2% | |
| 5 | Function area, other | 1 | 4.2% | |
| 6 | Shipping/receiving area; loading area, dock or bay | 1 | 4.2% | |
| 7 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 1 | 4.2% | |
| 8 | Maintenance shop or area, paint shop or area | 1 | 4.2% | |
| 9 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 1 | 4.2% | |
| 10 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 1 | 4.2% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 3 | 12.5% |
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 Burlington mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 10 | 41.7% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 4 | 16.7% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 2 | 8.3% | |
| 4 | Heat, spark from friction | 2 | 8.3% | |
| 5 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 2 | 8.3% | |
| 6 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 1 | 4.2% | |
| 7 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 1 | 4.2% | |
| 8 | Heat from undetermined smoking material | 1 | 4.2% | |
| 9 | Cigarette lighter | 1 | 4.2% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by West Burlington departments in 2025. These 3 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $25,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $5,000 | Outside rubbish, trash or waste fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $1,500 | Unauthorized burning | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. West Burlington sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 6,686 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | Recreation and ceremony | 1,200 | 30.4 mi | |
| 2000 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 832 | 30.4 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 820 | 30.4 mi | |
| 2003 | Arson/incendiarism | 630 | 30.4 mi | |
| 1996 | Debris and open burning | 333 | 20.7 mi | |
| 2000 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 282 | 30.4 mi | |
| 1999 | Debris and open burning | 280 | 47.2 mi | |
| 2000 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 232 | 30.4 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 200 | 41.5 mi | |
| 2018 | Debris and open burning | 180 | 4.0 mi | |
| 2000 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 174 | 30.4 mi | |
| 2017 | Smoking | 150 | 38.7 mi |
Top 2 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 West Burlington. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in West Burlington.
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.