In 2025, fire departments serving Branson responded to 254 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $337K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Authorized controlled burning lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 52% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
1,158 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $4.0M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 205 | — | |
| 2022 | 197 | -3.9% | |
| 2023 | 274 | +39.1% | |
| 2024 | 228 | -16.8% | |
| 2025 | 254 | +11.4% |
For the 36 building fires Branson departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 441 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 | Outside area, other | 58 | 13.2% | |
| 2 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 54 | 12.2% | |
| 3 | Undetermined | 54 | 12.2% | |
| 4 | Wildland, woods | 48 | 10.9% | |
| 5 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 41 | 9.3% | |
| 6 | Cooking area, kitchen | 22 | 5.0% | |
| 7 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 22 | 5.0% | |
| 8 | Other | 14 | 3.2% | |
| 9 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 12 | 2.7% | |
| 10 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 12 | 2.7% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 104 | 23.6% |
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 Branson mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 234 | 53.1% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 39 | 8.8% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 21 | 4.8% | |
| 4 | Hot ember or ash | 20 | 4.5% | |
| 5 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 17 | 3.9% | |
| 6 | Heat source: other | 15 | 3.4% | |
| 7 | Fireworks | 15 | 3.4% | |
| 8 | Cigarette | 14 | 3.2% | |
| 9 | Cigarette lighter | 11 | 2.5% | |
| 10 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 8 | 1.8% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 47 | 10.7% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Branson departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 92% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $337,100 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $337,100 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 3 | $285,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 4 | $172,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $150,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $60,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $25,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Branson sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
5 fire-related casualties recorded in NFIRS Module 11 across the 2021–2025 window. Age, gender, and severity are coarse-binned — no individual identification possible.
| Age | Count | |
|---|---|---|
| 0-9 | 0 | |
| 10-19 | 0 | |
| 20-29 | 0 | |
| 30-39 | 2 | |
| 40-49 | 1 | |
| 50-59 | 2 | |
| 60-69 | 0 | |
| 70-79 | 0 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 24,916 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,471 | 26.0 mi | |
| 2019 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,121 | 22.6 mi | |
| 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,101 | 23.5 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,625 | 25.1 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,212 | 26.4 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,178 | 23.8 mi | |
| 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,034 | 23.1 mi | |
| 2014 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,016 | 16.5 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,000 | 49.9 mi | |
| 1995 | Arson/incendiarism | 990 | 43.9 mi | |
| 2010 | Arson/incendiarism | 889 | 24.4 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 750 | 41.2 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 Branson. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Branson.
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.