In 2025, fire departments serving Boonville responded to 87 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $250K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Power line down lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 63% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Nov dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
572 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $7.3M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 102 | — | |
| 2022 | 115 | +12.7% | |
| 2023 | 123 | +7.0% | |
| 2024 | 145 | +17.9% | |
| 2025 | 87 | -40.0% |
For the 7 building fires Boonville departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 136 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 | 53 | 39.0% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 45 | 33.1% | |
| 3 | Attic: vacant, crawl space above top story, cupola | 6 | 4.4% | |
| 4 | Cooking area, kitchen | 3 | 2.2% | |
| 5 | Cargo/trunk area - all vehicles | 3 | 2.2% | |
| 6 | Outside area, other | 3 | 2.2% | |
| 7 | Other | 2 | 1.5% | |
| 8 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 2 | 1.5% | |
| 9 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 2 | 1.5% | |
| 10 | Ceiling & floor assembly, crawl space b/t stories | 2 | 1.5% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 15 | 11.0% |
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 Boonville mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 99 | 72.8% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 9 | 6.6% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 6 | 4.4% | |
| 4 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 5 | 3.7% | |
| 5 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 4 | 2.9% | |
| 6 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 4 | 2.9% | |
| 7 | Hot ember or ash | 3 | 2.2% | |
| 8 | Match | 3 | 2.2% | |
| 9 | Heat, spark from friction | 1 | 0.7% | |
| 10 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 1 | 0.7% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 1 | 0.7% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Boonville departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 84% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $250,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $100,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $80,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $60,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $45,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $35,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $30,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $30,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Boonville sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 6,634 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,071 | 47.0 mi | |
| 2018 | Natural | 759 | 46.9 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 745 | 41.0 mi | |
| 2018 | Arson/incendiarism | 726 | 47.1 mi | |
| 1995 | Debris and open burning | 405 | 49.3 mi | |
| 1994 | Arson/incendiarism | 255 | 49.7 mi | |
| 1999 | Debris and open burning | 235 | 48.1 mi | |
| 2019 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 235 | 48.5 mi | |
| 2018 | Debris and open burning | 175 | 50.0 mi | |
| 2001 | Debris and open burning | 174 | 46.4 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 158 | 21.9 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 152 | 47.1 mi |
Top 3 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
Six Missouri cities with population within ±25% of Boonville. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
2 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Boonville.
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.