ZIP 50161 recorded 34 fire and hazmat incidents in 2025, 129 across 2021–2025. Primary county: Polk County, IA. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as Moderate.
129 incidents from 2021 through 2025 inside this ZIP.
| Year | Incidents | |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 20 | |
| 2022 | 22 | |
| 2023 | 33 | |
| 2024 | 20 | |
| 2025 | 34 |
Mar peaks. Jan dips. Aggregated across all 5 years inside this ZIP.
Top 5 NFIRS incident types for ZIP 50161 across 2021–2025.
| # | Incident type | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Grass fire | 34 | 26.4% | |
| 2 | Building fires | 27 | 20.9% | |
| 3 | Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire | 18 | 14.0% | |
| 4 | Power line down | 7 | 5.4% | |
| 5 | Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) | 6 | 4.7% |
For the 4 building fires reported here in 2025, here's how investigators classified ignition cause.
NFIRS Area of Origin for ZIP 50161 fires across 2021–2025.
| # | Area of origin | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 19 | 59.4% | |
| 2 | Wall assembly | 6 | 18.8% | |
| 3 | Cooking area, kitchen | 2 | 6.2% | |
| 4 | Heating room or area, water heater area | 2 | 6.2% | |
| 5 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 1 | 3.1% | |
| 6 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 1 | 3.1% | |
| 7 | Outside area, other | 1 | 3.1% |
NFIRS HEAT_SOURC code — the physical thing that started the fire.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 22 | 68.8% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 7 | 21.9% | |
| 3 | Heat source: other | 1 | 3.1% | |
| 4 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 1 | 3.1% | |
| 5 | Heat from undetermined smoking material | 1 | 3.1% |
Largest single-incident losses in ZIP 50161 across 2021–2025. These 8 fires alone account for 17600% of the ZIP's 2025 reported total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Year | Severity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $2,500 | Building fires | 2023 | Significant |
| 2 | $2,500 | Building fires | 2023 | Significant |
| 3 | $2,500 | Building fires | 2023 | Significant |
| 4 | $2,500 | Building fires | 2023 | Significant |
| 5 | $2,500 | Building fires | 2023 | Significant |
| 6 | $2,500 | Building fires | 2023 | Significant |
| 7 | $2,500 | Passenger vehicle fire | 2024 | Significant |
| 8 | $100 | Building fires | 2025 | Significant |
Some ZIPs span multiple cities. Ranked by 5-yr NFIRS incidents inside ZIP 50161.
| # | City | 5-yr incidents | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Maxwell | 98 | |
| 2 | Mitchellville | 7 |
Some ZIPs span multiple counties. The primary above is the largest by population weight; secondary counties are below.
| County | State | Weight | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Story County | IA | 1.00 | FIPS 19169 |
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 — 129 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.