Single‐wire Fe spectra collected from two different exploded‐wire generators (Gamble II and Owl II) were analyzed to determined the ionization stages produced in the plasmas. The temperature for the hot‐plasma pinches for both generators was 1.4±0.2 keV at which an abundance of Fe XXIV transitions is produced. The FeKspectra from exploded wires are basically similar to those produced in the pinched plasma generated randomly in the vacuum spark; however, the exploded wires have lower plasma temperatures than the hottest pinches produced in the vacuum spark. A detailed interpretation of the FeLspectra formed in the exploded wires permitted line and ionization stage identifications in the 7–12‐A˚ region. Such spectroscopic data is useful for analysis of complex Fe spectra generated in multitemperature plasma devices like Tokamaks.