ZIP 50309 recorded 202 fire and hazmat incidents in 2025, 764 across 2021–2025. Primary county: Polk County, IA. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as Moderate.
764 incidents from 2021 through 2025 inside this ZIP.
| Year | Incidents | |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 142 | |
| 2022 | 11 | |
| 2023 | 202 | |
| 2024 | 207 | |
| 2025 | 202 |
Sep peaks. May dips. Aggregated across all 5 years inside this ZIP.
Top 5 NFIRS incident types for ZIP 50309 across 2021–2025.
| # | Incident type | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Unauthorized burning | 140 | 18.3% | |
| 2 | Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) | 89 | 11.6% | |
| 3 | Outside rubbish, trash or waste fire | 75 | 9.8% | |
| 4 | Dumpster or other outside trash receptacle fire | 73 | 9.6% | |
| 5 | Passenger vehicle fire | 49 | 6.4% |
For the 8 building fires reported here in 2025, here's how investigators classified ignition cause.
NFIRS Area of Origin for ZIP 50309 fires across 2021–2025.
| # | Area of origin | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Outside area, other | 110 | 31.2% | |
| 2 | Cooking area, kitchen | 36 | 10.2% | |
| 3 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 35 | 9.9% | |
| 4 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 33 | 9.4% | |
| 5 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 19 | 5.4% | |
| 6 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 17 | 4.8% | |
| 7 | Other | 9 | 2.6% | |
| 8 | Undetermined | 9 | 2.6% | |
| 9 | All other areas | 84 | 23.9% |
NFIRS HEAT_SOURC code — the physical thing that started the fire.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 170 | 48.3% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 27 | 7.7% | |
| 3 | Cigarette lighter | 23 | 6.5% | |
| 4 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 18 | 5.1% | |
| 5 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 17 | 4.8% | |
| 6 | Heat source: other | 16 | 4.5% | |
| 7 | Cigarette | 14 | 4.0% | |
| 8 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 9 | 2.6% | |
| 9 | All other sources | 58 | 16.5% |
Largest single-incident losses in ZIP 50309 across 2021–2025. These 8 fires alone account for 218% of the ZIP's 2025 reported total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Year | Severity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $100,000 | Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other | 2023 | Significant |
| 2 | $100,000 | Building fires | 2023 | Significant |
| 3 | $100,000 | Rail vehicle fire | 2024 | Significant |
| 4 | $100,000 | Building fires | 2025 | Significant |
| 5 | $50,000 | Building fires | 2024 | Significant |
| 6 | $40,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | 2024 | Significant |
| 7 | $30,000 | Building fires | 2025 | Significant |
| 8 | $25,000 | Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other | 2021 | Significant |
Some ZIPs span multiple cities. Ranked by 5-yr NFIRS incidents inside ZIP 50309.
| # | City | 5-yr incidents | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Des Moines | 764 |
Some ZIPs span multiple counties. The primary above is the largest by population weight; secondary counties are below.
| County | State | Weight | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Warren County | IA | 0.50 | FIPS 19181 |
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 — 764 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.