ZIP 51002 recorded 13 fire and hazmat incidents in 2025, 30 across 2021–2025. Primary county: Buena Vista County, IA.
30 incidents from 2021 through 2025 inside this ZIP.
| Year | Incidents | |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 0 | |
| 2022 | 1 | |
| 2023 | 4 | |
| 2024 | 12 | |
| 2025 | 13 |
Apr peaks. Mar dips. Aggregated across all 5 years inside this ZIP.
Top 5 NFIRS incident types for ZIP 51002 across 2021–2025.
| # | Incident type | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Building fires | 13 | 43.3% | |
| 2 | Grass fire | 6 | 20.0% | |
| 3 | Passenger vehicle fire | 3 | 10.0% | |
| 4 | Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire | 2 | 6.7% | |
| 5 | Cultivated grain or crop fire | 2 | 6.7% |
For the 3 building fires reported here in 2025, here's how investigators classified ignition cause.
NFIRS Area of Origin for ZIP 51002 fires across 2021–2025.
| # | Area of origin | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ceiling & floor assembly, crawl space b/t stories | 4 | 30.8% | |
| 2 | Interior stairway or ramp | 1 | 7.7% | |
| 3 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 1 | 7.7% | |
| 4 | Cooking area, kitchen | 1 | 7.7% | |
| 5 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 1 | 7.7% | |
| 6 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 1 | 7.7% | |
| 7 | Attic: vacant, crawl space above top story, cupola | 1 | 7.7% | |
| 8 | Cargo/trunk area - all vehicles | 1 | 7.7% | |
| 9 | All other areas | 2 | 15.4% |
NFIRS HEAT_SOURC code — the physical thing that started the fire.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Flying brand, ember, spark | 3 | 23.1% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 2 | 15.4% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 2 | 15.4% | |
| 4 | Undetermined | 2 | 15.4% | |
| 5 | Heat source: other | 1 | 7.7% | |
| 6 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 7.7% | |
| 7 | Cigarette | 1 | 7.7% | |
| 8 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 1 | 7.7% |
Largest single-incident losses in ZIP 51002 across 2021–2025. These 8 fires alone account for 8154% of the ZIP's 2025 reported total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Year | Severity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $300,000 | Building fires | 2024 | Major |
| 2 | $176,000 | Building fires | 2024 | Significant |
| 3 | $25,000 | Fire in mobile home used as fixed residence | 2023 | Significant |
| 4 | $15,000 | Building fires | 2024 | Significant |
| 5 | $6,500 | Passenger vehicle fire | 2024 | Significant |
| 6 | $5,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | 2025 | Significant |
| 7 | $1,500 | Building fires | 2025 | Significant |
| 8 | $1,000 | Building fires | 2024 | Significant |
Some ZIPs span multiple cities. Ranked by 5-yr NFIRS incidents inside ZIP 51002.
| # | City | 5-yr incidents | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alta | 30 |
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 — 30 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.