ZIP 50311 recorded 79 fire and hazmat incidents in 2025, 239 across 2021–2025. Primary county: Polk County, IA. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as Moderate.
239 incidents from 2021 through 2025 inside this ZIP.
| Year | Incidents | |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 43 | |
| 2022 | 2 | |
| 2023 | 57 | |
| 2024 | 58 | |
| 2025 | 79 |
Jul peaks. Jan dips. Aggregated across all 5 years inside this ZIP.
Top 5 NFIRS incident types for ZIP 50311 across 2021–2025.
| # | Incident type | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Unauthorized burning | 50 | 20.9% | |
| 2 | Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) | 48 | 20.1% | |
| 3 | Carbon monoxide incident | 20 | 8.4% | |
| 4 | Power line down | 16 | 6.7% | |
| 5 | Passenger vehicle fire | 15 | 6.3% |
For the 0 building fires reported here in 2025, here's how investigators classified ignition cause.
NFIRS Area of Origin for ZIP 50311 fires across 2021–2025.
| # | Area of origin | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Outside area, other | 21 | 32.8% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 10 | 15.6% | |
| 3 | Cooking area, kitchen | 8 | 12.5% | |
| 4 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 5 | 7.8% | |
| 5 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 3 | 4.7% | |
| 6 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 3 | 4.7% | |
| 7 | Other | 2 | 3.1% | |
| 8 | Vehicle area, other | 2 | 3.1% | |
| 9 | All other areas | 10 | 15.6% |
NFIRS HEAT_SOURC code — the physical thing that started the fire.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 24 | 37.5% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 9 | 14.1% | |
| 3 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 5 | 7.8% | |
| 4 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 5 | 7.8% | |
| 5 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 2 | 3.1% | |
| 6 | Heat, spark from friction | 2 | 3.1% | |
| 7 | Hot ember or ash | 2 | 3.1% | |
| 8 | Fireworks | 2 | 3.1% | |
| 9 | All other sources | 13 | 20.3% |
Largest single-incident losses in ZIP 50311 across 2021–2025. These 8 fires alone account for 696% of the ZIP's 2025 reported total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Year | Severity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $15,000 | Building fires | 2021 | Significant |
| 2 | $14,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | 2021 | Significant |
| 3 | $6,500 | Passenger vehicle fire | 2021 | Significant |
| 4 | $6,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | 2021 | Significant |
| 5 | $6,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | 2024 | Significant |
| 6 | $5,000 | Cooking fire, confined to container | 2021 | Significant |
| 7 | $3,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | 2024 | Significant |
| 8 | $3,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | 2024 | Significant |
Some ZIPs span multiple cities. Ranked by 5-yr NFIRS incidents inside ZIP 50311.
| # | City | 5-yr incidents | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Des Moines | 234 | |
| 2 | Windsor Heights | 3 | |
| 3 | Johnston | 2 |
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 — 239 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.