In 2025, fire departments serving Winthrop responded to 69 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $24K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Authorized controlled burning lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 91% of all calls.
Apr peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
121 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $773K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 8 | — | |
| 2022* | 2 | — | |
| 2023 | 18 | — | |
| 2024 | 24 | +33.3% | |
| 2025 | 69 | +187.5% |
* Well below Winthrop'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 Winthrop departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 23 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 | 5 | 21.7% | |
| 2 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 4 | 17.4% | |
| 3 | Undetermined | 4 | 17.4% | |
| 4 | Outside area, other | 3 | 13.0% | |
| 5 | Vehicle area, other | 2 | 8.7% | |
| 6 | Interior stairway or ramp | 1 | 4.3% | |
| 7 | Storage area, other | 1 | 4.3% | |
| 8 | Service facilities, other | 1 | 4.3% | |
| 9 | Heating room or area, water heater area | 1 | 4.3% | |
| 10 | Maintenance shop or area, paint shop or area | 1 | 4.3% |
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 Winthrop mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 8 | 34.8% | |
| 2 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 5 | 21.7% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 2 | 8.7% | |
| 4 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 2 | 8.7% | |
| 5 | Flying brand, ember, spark | 2 | 8.7% | |
| 6 | Heat source: other | 1 | 4.3% | |
| 7 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 1 | 4.3% | |
| 8 | Heat, spark from friction | 1 | 4.3% | |
| 9 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 1 | 4.3% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Winthrop departments in 2025. These 3 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $24,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $8,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $4,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Winthrop sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 5,297 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 824 | 48.6 mi | |
| 2015 | Debris and open burning | 750 | 48.2 mi | |
| 2015 | Debris and open burning | 500 | 48.4 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 360 | 49.1 mi | |
| 2018 | Debris and open burning | 316 | 49.4 mi | |
| 2011 | Debris and open burning | 250 | 49.9 mi | |
| 2020 | Debris and open burning | 228 | 49.6 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 200 | 22.4 mi | |
| 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 165 | 40.2 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 160 | 43.5 mi | |
| 2015 | Debris and open burning | 160 | 28.9 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 140 | 35.2 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 Winthrop. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Winthrop.
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.