In 2025, fire departments serving Altus responded to 163 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $50K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 54% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Jun dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
382 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $2.4M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 0 | — | |
| 2022* | 0 | — | |
| 2023* | 15 | — | |
| 2024 | 204 | — | |
| 2025 | 163 | -20.1% |
* Well below Altus's usual volume. That almost always means one or more departments didn't submit a full year to NFIRS, not that fires dropped, so no year-over-year change is shown for it.
For the 13 building fires Altus departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 104 building fires investigators classified across 2021–2025. The room or location where ignition occurred — kitchens, bedrooms, exterior, vehicle areas — tells you where to focus prevention.
| # | Area of origin | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 26 | 25.0% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 11 | 10.6% | |
| 3 | Other | 7 | 6.7% | |
| 4 | Attic: vacant, crawl space above top story, cupola | 7 | 6.7% | |
| 5 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 6 | 5.8% | |
| 6 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 6 | 5.8% | |
| 7 | Cooking area, kitchen | 4 | 3.8% | |
| 8 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 4 | 3.8% | |
| 9 | Function area, other | 3 | 2.9% | |
| 10 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 3 | 2.9% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 27 | 26.0% |
NFIRS Heat Source (HEAT_SOURC) — the physical thing that started it. Spark or ember from operating equipment, an open flame, smoking materials, or hot embers from a fireplace are the leading culprits nationwide. Here's the Altus mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 53 | 51.0% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 10 | 9.6% | |
| 3 | Heat source: other | 7 | 6.7% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 6 | 5.8% | |
| 5 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 4 | 3.8% | |
| 6 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 4 | 3.8% | |
| 7 | Hot ember or ash | 3 | 2.9% | |
| 8 | Match | 3 | 2.9% | |
| 9 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 3 | 2.9% | |
| 10 | Lightning | 3 | 2.9% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 8 | 7.7% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Altus departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 73% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $20,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $20,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $15,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $15,000 | Fire in motor home, camper, recreational vehicle | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $15,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $12,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $10,000 | Fires in structures other than in a building | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Altus sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 157,948 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Equipment and vehicle use | 39,907 | 39.5 mi | |
| 1996 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 17,835 | 29.6 mi | |
| 2015 | Firearms and explosives use | 10,471 | 40.7 mi | |
| 2000 | Natural | 10,206 | 38.8 mi | |
| 2019 | Other causes | 7,206 | 44.7 mi | |
| 1993 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 6,782 | 40.2 mi | |
| 2005 | Debris and open burning | 5,430 | 44.4 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 4,500 | 43.3 mi | |
| 2009 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 4,500 | 47.7 mi | |
| 2018 | Natural | 4,196 | 34.4 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 4,000 | 28.4 mi | |
| 2012 | Equipment and vehicle use | 3,900 | 31.5 mi |
Top 5 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
Six Oklahoma cities with population within ±25% of Altus. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
2 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Altus.
A 30-minute weekend can cut your home's exposure substantially. These four checklists are a good starting point.
Numbers reflect incidents reported by participating fire departments to the National Fire Incident Reporting System (NFIRS) Public Data Release for calendar year 2025. NFIRS is voluntary — about 23,000 of roughly 30,000 US fire departments report — so totals are a strong indicator, not a complete census. Per-capita comparisons use 2023 ACS population estimates. Wildland fire data complements NFIRS with NIFC and USFS perimeters. Active-fire counts come from a dated NIFC snapshot, not a live feed.