In 2025, fire departments serving West Union responded to 41 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $250K 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 47% of all calls.
Feb peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
134 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $606K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 30 | — | |
| 2022 | 33 | +10.0% | |
| 2023* | 11 | — | |
| 2024 | 19 | — | |
| 2025 | 41 | +115.8% |
* Well below West Union'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 4 building fires West Union departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 43 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 | 23 | 53.5% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 4 | 9.3% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 3 | 7.0% | |
| 4 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 3 | 7.0% | |
| 5 | Cooking area, kitchen | 2 | 4.7% | |
| 6 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 2 | 4.7% | |
| 7 | Other | 1 | 2.3% | |
| 8 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 1 | 2.3% | |
| 9 | Function area, other | 1 | 2.3% | |
| 10 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 1 | 2.3% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 2 | 4.7% |
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 Union mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 29 | 67.4% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 4 | 9.3% | |
| 3 | Hot ember or ash | 4 | 9.3% | |
| 4 | Heat source: other | 1 | 2.3% | |
| 5 | Arcing | 1 | 2.3% | |
| 6 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 1 | 2.3% | |
| 7 | Explosive, fireworks, other | 1 | 2.3% | |
| 8 | Cigarette lighter | 1 | 2.3% | |
| 9 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 1 | 2.3% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by West Union departments in 2025. These 6 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $250,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $50,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $15,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $8,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $5,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $1,500 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. West Union sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 4,089 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 | 750 | 33.7 mi | |
| 2015 | Debris and open burning | 500 | 35.1 mi | |
| 2018 | Debris and open burning | 300 | 24.2 mi | |
| 2018 | Debris and open burning | 300 | 25.9 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 189 | 48.1 mi | |
| 2012 | Equipment and vehicle use | 166 | 46.6 mi | |
| 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 165 | 44.0 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 150 | 49.9 mi | |
| 2018 | Debris and open burning | 150 | 39.1 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 140 | 2.3 mi | |
| 1999 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 124 | 47.1 mi | |
| 2015 | Equipment and vehicle use | 120 | 22.5 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 | 52175 | 134 |
Six Iowa cities with population within ±25% of West Union. 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.