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2025 County Report

Fires in Van Buren County, IA

In 2025, fire departments serving Van Buren County responded to 48 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $55K property loss. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as Moderate.

3,536 residents FIPS 19177 20 cities · 9 fire depts
Total incidents
48
145 across 5 years
Building fires
15
19 wildland
Property loss
$190K
$85K structure · $105K contents
Casualties
1 / 3
1 civ deaths · 1 civ inj · 2 FF inj
01 The mix

What kinds of fires happen here?

Building fires lead by count. Top five categories make up about 75% of all calls.

48
Total Incidents
Building fires 15 31.2%
Grass fire 11 22.9%
Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire 5 10.4%
Forest, woods or wildland fire 3 6.2%
Passenger vehicle fire 2 4.2%
All other categories 12 25.0%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in Van Buren County?

Mar peaks. May dips.

Jan 7
Feb 5
Mar 15
Apr 7
May 0
Jun 1
Jul 2
Aug 4
Sep 2
Oct 3
Nov 1
Dec 1
03 Five-year trend

Year over year in Van Buren County

145 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 24
2022 18
2023 24
2024 31
2025 48
04 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 15 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional
43%
6
Cause undetermined
21%
3
Intentional / arson
7%
1
Equipment / heat source failure
21%
3
Under investigation
7%
1
Act of nature (lightning)
1%
0
05 The biggest fires

3 fires · $85K in losses

Largest single-incident property losses in Van Buren County during 2025. These 3 fires alone account for 100% of the county's total.

#Property lossCityTypeSeverity
1 $55,400 City of Stockport Building fires Significant
2 $30,000 City of Farmington Building fires Significant
3 $1 City of Birmingham Building fires Significant
06 How Van Buren County compares

Van Buren County vs IA vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

13.57
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Van Buren County
13.57
IA avg
9.41
US avg
7.15
4.24
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Van Buren County
4.24
IA avg
1.15
US avg
0.82
282.8
Civilian fire deaths per million
Van Buren County
282.8
IA avg
7.3
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in Van Buren County

12 cities mapped to FIPS 19177.

08 First responders

Busiest fire departments in Van Buren County

9 departments report from this county.

BIRMINGHAM FIRE DEPT
—
FDID 89001 21 incidents
FARMINGTON FIRE DEPT
—
FDID 89005 17 incidents
STOCKPORT FIRE DEPT
—
FDID 89009 9 incidents
DOUDS FIRE DEPT
—
FDID 89004 2 incidents
MILTON FIRE DEPT
—
FDID 89007 2 incidents
09 Historical wildfires

Largest fires recorded in IA

Top 10 fire perimeters by acres burned (state-scoped fallback while we build out per-county polygons).

#NameYearAgencyAcres
1 IAWTR-FY19-RX-Dunbar Slough 2019 FWS 759
2 IANSR-FY19-RX-Highpoint Savanna 2019 FWS 737
3 IANSR-FY19-RX-N. Bison/Henslow hill 2019 FWS 482
4 Upper Iowa River Wildfire 2024 FWS 465
5 Cornland Wildfire 2018 FWS 402
6 Bottoms WF 2021 PRI 353
7 Crane Lake WF 2021 State 349
8 IAWTR-FY19-RX-Union Hills North 2019 FWS 315
9 Schott WF 2018 FWS 314
10 IAWTR-FY19-RX-Errington Marsh 2019 FWS 304

About this data

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.