In 2025, fire departments serving Brentwood responded to 84 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $500 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 83% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Oct dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
561 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2021. $492K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 152 | — | |
| 2022 | 99 | -34.9% | |
| 2023 | 120 | +21.2% | |
| 2024 | 106 | -11.7% | |
| 2025 | 84 | -20.8% |
For the 6 building fires Brentwood departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 67 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 | 12 | 17.9% | |
| 2 | Cooking area, kitchen | 10 | 14.9% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 8 | 11.9% | |
| 4 | Other | 4 | 6.0% | |
| 5 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 3 | 4.5% | |
| 6 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 3 | 4.5% | |
| 7 | Courtyard, patio, porch, terrace | 3 | 4.5% | |
| 8 | Undetermined | 3 | 4.5% | |
| 9 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 2 | 3.0% | |
| 10 | Ceiling & floor assembly, crawl space b/t stories | 2 | 3.0% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 17 | 25.4% |
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 Brentwood mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 29 | 43.3% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 10 | 14.9% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 7 | 10.4% | |
| 4 | Heat source: other | 5 | 7.5% | |
| 5 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 4 | 6.0% | |
| 6 | Hot ember or ash | 4 | 6.0% | |
| 7 | Chemical reaction | 2 | 3.0% | |
| 8 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 1.5% | |
| 9 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 1 | 1.5% | |
| 10 | Cigarette | 1 | 1.5% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 3 | 4.5% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Brentwood departments in 2025. These 1 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $500 | Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Brentwood sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 4,049 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,475 | 27.4 mi | |
| 1999 | Debris and open burning | 360 | 38.3 mi | |
| 1997 | Debris and open burning | 270 | 38.5 mi | |
| 2005 | Natural | 225 | 31.1 mi | |
| 1995 | Debris and open burning | 150 | 49.7 mi | |
| 2002 | Natural | 150 | 31.4 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 150 | 42.4 mi | |
| 1997 | Smoking | 135 | 47.6 mi | |
| 1995 | Debris and open burning | 130 | 49.2 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 120 | 49.3 mi | |
| 1994 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 104 | 48.0 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 80 | 18.8 mi |
Top 2 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 Brentwood. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
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.