ZIP 50021 recorded 111 fire and hazmat incidents in 2025, 659 across 2021–2025. Primary county: Polk County, IA. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as Moderate.
659 incidents from 2021 through 2025 inside this ZIP.
| Year | Incidents | |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 95 | |
| 2022 | 179 | |
| 2023 | 131 | |
| 2024 | 143 | |
| 2025 | 111 |
Oct peaks. Jan dips. Aggregated across all 5 years inside this ZIP.
Top 5 NFIRS incident types for ZIP 50021 across 2021–2025.
| # | Incident type | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) | 99 | 15.0% | |
| 2 | Building fires | 95 | 14.4% | |
| 3 | Passenger vehicle fire | 52 | 7.9% | |
| 4 | Gasoline or other flammable liquid spill | 46 | 7.0% | |
| 5 | Carbon monoxide incident | 44 | 6.7% |
For the 10 building fires reported here in 2025, here's how investigators classified ignition cause.
NFIRS Area of Origin for ZIP 50021 fires across 2021–2025.
| # | Area of origin | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 50 | 37.9% | |
| 2 | Cooking area, kitchen | 12 | 9.1% | |
| 3 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 8 | 6.1% | |
| 4 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 8 | 6.1% | |
| 5 | Undetermined | 8 | 6.1% | |
| 6 | Wall surface: exterior | 6 | 4.5% | |
| 7 | Cargo/trunk area - all vehicles | 6 | 4.5% | |
| 8 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 5 | 3.8% | |
| 9 | All other areas | 29 | 22.0% |
NFIRS HEAT_SOURC code — the physical thing that started the fire.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 77 | 58.3% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 12 | 9.1% | |
| 3 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 8 | 6.1% | |
| 4 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 6 | 4.5% | |
| 5 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 5 | 3.8% | |
| 6 | Heat, spark from friction | 4 | 3.0% | |
| 7 | Cigarette | 4 | 3.0% | |
| 8 | Hot ember or ash | 3 | 2.3% | |
| 9 | All other sources | 13 | 9.8% |
Largest single-incident losses in ZIP 50021 across 2021–2025. These 8 fires alone account for 981% of the ZIP's 2025 reported total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Year | Severity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $2,000,000 | Building fires | 2021 | Major |
| 2 | $500,000 | Building fires | 2023 | Major |
| 3 | $469,500 | Passenger vehicle fire | 2023 | Major |
| 4 | $280,700 | Building fires | 2025 | Major |
| 5 | $250,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | 2022 | Major |
| 6 | $250,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | 2022 | Major |
| 7 | $150,000 | Building fires | 2023 | Significant |
| 8 | $100,000 | Building fires | 2021 | Significant |
Some ZIPs span multiple cities. Ranked by 5-yr NFIRS incidents inside ZIP 50021.
| # | City | 5-yr incidents | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ankeny | 648 | |
| 2 | Des Moines | 5 | |
| 3 | Indianola | 1 |
The figures above are historical. For today's air quality, fire-weather warnings, and active fires, go to the official sources.
NFIRS reports each fire incident with a 5-digit address ZIP. We aggregate those rows directly to produce ZIP-level totals — 659 incidents in this ZIP across 2021–2025. Building-fire breakdowns (Area of Origin, Heat Source, ignition cause) only count fires investigators classified beyond the basic incident report. Because NFIRS reporting is voluntary, totals are a strong indicator rather than a complete census.