In 2025, fire departments serving Wapello County responded to 491 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $175K property loss. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as High.
Building fires lead by count. Top five categories make up about 56% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Sep dips.
1,854 incidents from 2021 through 2025.
| Year | Incidents | |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 324 | |
| 2022 | 325 | |
| 2023 | 290 | |
| 2024 | 424 | |
| 2025 | 491 |
For the 75 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.
Largest single-incident property losses in Wapello County during 2025. These 10 fires alone account for 66% of the county's total.
| # | Property loss | City | Type | Severity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $175,000 | City of Ottumwa | Building fires | Significant |
| 2 | $105,000 | City of Eldon | Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other | Significant |
| 3 | $98,420 | City of Ottumwa | Building fires | Significant |
| 4 | $95,500 | City of Ottumwa | Building fires | Significant |
| 5 | $80,000 | Ottumwa | Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other | Significant |
| 6 | $50,000 | City of Ottumwa | Building fires | Significant |
| 7 | $50,000 | City of Ottumwa | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant |
| 8 | $50,000 | City of Ottumwa | Building fires | Significant |
| 9 | $50,000 | City of Ottumwa | Building fires | Significant |
| 10 | $46,000 | City of Eldon | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.
12 cities mapped to FIPS 19179.
6 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 | 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 |
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.