ZIP 50131 recorded 114 fire and hazmat incidents in 2025, 537 across 2021–2025. Primary county: Polk County, IA. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as Moderate.
537 incidents from 2021 through 2025 inside this ZIP.
| Year | Incidents | |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 94 | |
| 2022 | 93 | |
| 2023 | 83 | |
| 2024 | 153 | |
| 2025 | 114 |
Mar peaks. Feb dips. Aggregated across all 5 years inside this ZIP.
Top 5 NFIRS incident types for ZIP 50131 across 2021–2025.
| # | Incident type | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Building fires | 104 | 19.4% | |
| 2 | Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) | 77 | 14.3% | |
| 3 | Cooking fire, confined to container | 47 | 8.8% | |
| 4 | Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire | 41 | 7.6% | |
| 5 | Unauthorized burning | 28 | 5.2% |
For the 13 building fires reported here in 2025, here's how investigators classified ignition cause.
NFIRS Area of Origin for ZIP 50131 fires across 2021–2025.
| # | Area of origin | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 13 | 15.7% | |
| 2 | Cooking area, kitchen | 12 | 14.5% | |
| 3 | Storage: supplies or tools; dead storage | 9 | 10.8% | |
| 4 | Undetermined | 9 | 10.8% | |
| 5 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 7 | 8.4% | |
| 6 | Cargo/trunk area - all vehicles | 3 | 3.6% | |
| 7 | Bathroom, checkroom, lavatory, locker room | 2 | 2.4% | |
| 8 | Closet | 2 | 2.4% | |
| 9 | All other areas | 26 | 31.3% |
NFIRS HEAT_SOURC code — the physical thing that started the fire.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 21 | 25.3% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 13 | 15.7% | |
| 3 | Chemical reaction | 8 | 9.6% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 7 | 8.4% | |
| 5 | Arcing | 7 | 8.4% | |
| 6 | Hot ember or ash | 7 | 8.4% | |
| 7 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 5 | 6.0% | |
| 8 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 2 | 2.4% | |
| 9 | All other sources | 13 | 15.7% |
Largest single-incident losses in ZIP 50131 across 2021–2025. These 8 fires alone account for 470% of the ZIP's 2025 reported total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Year | Severity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $400,000 | Building fires | 2024 | Major |
| 2 | $130,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | 2024 | Significant |
| 3 | $60,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | 2025 | Significant |
| 4 | $55,000 | Building fires | 2023 | Significant |
| 5 | $50,000 | Building fires | 2021 | Significant |
| 6 | $30,000 | Building fires | 2025 | Significant |
| 7 | $25,000 | Outside storage fire | 2022 | Significant |
| 8 | $25,000 | Building fires | 2025 | Significant |
Some ZIPs span multiple cities. Ranked by 5-yr NFIRS incidents inside ZIP 50131.
| # | City | 5-yr incidents | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Johnston | 491 | |
| 2 | Urbandale | 20 | |
| 3 | Grimes | 2 | |
| 4 | Des Moines | 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 — 537 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.