In 2025, fire departments serving Whittemore responded to 12 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $40K 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 92% of all calls.
Apr peaks. Feb dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
24 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $186K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 1 | — | |
| 2022* | 0 | — | |
| 2023* | 2 | — | |
| 2024 | 9 | — | |
| 2025 | 12 | +33.3% |
* Well below Whittemore'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 Whittemore departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 16 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 | 3 | 18.8% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 2 | 12.5% | |
| 3 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 2 | 12.5% | |
| 4 | Bedroom - 5+ persons; including barrack/dormitory | 1 | 6.2% | |
| 5 | Storage area, other | 1 | 6.2% | |
| 6 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 1 | 6.2% | |
| 7 | Wall assembly | 1 | 6.2% | |
| 8 | Wall surface: exterior | 1 | 6.2% | |
| 9 | Roof surface: exterior | 1 | 6.2% | |
| 10 | Vehicle area, other | 1 | 6.2% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 2 | 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 Whittemore mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 3 | 18.8% | |
| 2 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 3 | 18.8% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 2 | 12.5% | |
| 4 | Hot ember or ash | 2 | 12.5% | |
| 5 | Match | 2 | 12.5% | |
| 6 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 1 | 6.2% | |
| 7 | Flying brand, ember, spark | 1 | 6.2% | |
| 8 | Multiple heat sources including multiple ignitions | 1 | 6.2% | |
| 9 | Undetermined | 1 | 6.2% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Whittemore departments in 2025. These 2 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $40,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $1,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Whittemore sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 3,387 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | Equipment and vehicle use | 700 | 25.9 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 401 | 9.7 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 226 | 38.1 mi | |
| 2011 | Debris and open burning | 215 | 46.2 mi | |
| 2019 | Debris and open burning | 200 | 42.5 mi | |
| 2020 | Debris and open burning | 200 | 23.0 mi | |
| 2010 | Debris and open burning | 155 | 43.5 mi | |
| 2012 | Smoking | 145 | 33.4 mi | |
| 2012 | Natural | 100 | 27.3 mi | |
| 2018 | Debris and open burning | 80 | 44.7 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 80 | 44.2 mi | |
| 2015 | Debris and open burning | 80 | 48.8 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 | 50598 | 24 |
Six Iowa cities with population within ±25% of Whittemore. 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.