In 2025, fire departments serving DeKalb County responded to 207 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $400K property loss.
Building fires lead by count. Top five categories make up about 53% of all calls.
Apr peaks. Sep dips.
1,310 incidents from 2021 through 2025.
| Year | Incidents | |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 230 | |
| 2022 | 202 | |
| 2023 | 240 | |
| 2024 | 431 | |
| 2025 | 207 |
For the 46 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.
Largest single-incident property losses in DeKalb County during 2025. These 10 fires alone account for 100% of the county's total.
| # | Property loss | City | Type | Severity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $400,000 | City of Auburn | Building fires | Major |
| 2 | $300,000 | City of Auburn | Building fires | Major |
| 3 | $100,000 | Waterloo | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant |
| 4 | $80,000 | Waterloo | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant |
| 5 | $50,000 | Auburn | Building fires | Significant |
| 6 | $50,000 | Town of Saint Joe | Building fires | Significant |
| 7 | $10,000 | Spencerville | Building fires | Significant |
| 8 | $10,000 | Spencerville | Building fires | Significant |
| 9 | $5,000 | Town of Ashley | Trash or rubbish fire, contained | Significant |
| 10 | $5,000 | Waterloo | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.
12 cities mapped to FIPS 18033.
1 departments report from this county.
Top 10 fire perimeters by acres burned (state-scoped fallback while we build out per-county polygons).
| # | Name | Year | Agency | Acres |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | INBOR-FY19-RX-Unit 3&4 Spring 2109 WUI | 2019 | FWS | 1,977 |
| 2 | INBOR-FY19-RX-Unit 8 Spring 2109 NonWUI | 2019 | FWS | 769 |
| 3 | OGDEN DUNS | 1986 | NPS | 556 |
| 4 | 21-INDU Tolleston Dunes East | 2021 | NPS | 550 |
| 5 | Miller 3 Wildfire | 2021 | NPS | 424 |
| 6 | INBOR-FY19-RX-Unit 5&41 Spring 2109 NonWUI | 2019 | FWS | 419 |
| 7 | INBOR-FY19-RX-Unit 28&29 PGM Spring 2109 NonWUI | 2019 | FWS | 410 |
| 8 | INBOR-FY19-RX-Unit 31 North Spring 2109 NonWUI | 2019 | FWS | 400 |
| 9 | 23 Tolleston Dunes West RX BIL | 2023 | NPS | 335 |
| 10 | 22-INDU Derby Ditch | 2021 | NPS | 327 |
County-level NFIRS aggregates for 2025, plus 5-year totals across 2021–2025. NFIRS is voluntary — about 23,000 of roughly 30,000 US fire departments report — so totals are a strong indicator, not a complete census. Wildfire risk score (0–100) and Expected Annual Loss come from FEMA's National Risk Index. Drought class is the most recent USDM classification (D0 = abnormally dry through D4 = exceptional drought). Historical fire perimeters are sourced from the NIFC InterAgency Fire Perimeter History.