In 2025, fire departments serving Bristow responded to 116 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $200K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Grass fire lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 54% of all calls.
Mar peaks. May dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
552 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $3.9M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 67 | — | |
| 2022 | 168 | +150.7% | |
| 2023 | 90 | -46.4% | |
| 2024 | 111 | +23.3% | |
| 2025 | 116 | +4.5% |
For the 8 building fires Bristow departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 302 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 | 101 | 33.4% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 53 | 17.5% | |
| 3 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 47 | 15.6% | |
| 4 | Wildland, woods | 18 | 6.0% | |
| 5 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 16 | 5.3% | |
| 6 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 15 | 5.0% | |
| 7 | Other | 10 | 3.3% | |
| 8 | Attic: vacant, crawl space above top story, cupola | 5 | 1.7% | |
| 9 | Vehicle area, other | 5 | 1.7% | |
| 10 | Storage area, other | 3 | 1.0% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 29 | 9.6% |
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 Bristow mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 185 | 61.3% | |
| 2 | Hot ember or ash | 14 | 4.6% | |
| 3 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 12 | 4.0% | |
| 4 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 12 | 4.0% | |
| 5 | Arcing | 10 | 3.3% | |
| 6 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 9 | 3.0% | |
| 7 | Flying brand, ember, spark | 9 | 3.0% | |
| 8 | Heat source: other | 8 | 2.6% | |
| 9 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 8 | 2.6% | |
| 10 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 8 | 2.6% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 27 | 8.9% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Bristow departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 61% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $200,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $100,000 | Fires in structures other than in a building | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $100,000 | Fires in structures other than in a building | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $100,000 | Fires in structures other than in a building | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $80,000 | Fires in structures other than in a building | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $75,000 | Fires in structures other than in a building | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $60,000 | Grass fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Bristow sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 301,151 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | Smoking | 58,501 | 8.9 mi | |
| 2016 | Debris and open burning | 21,860 | 25.1 mi | |
| 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 17,299 | 44.2 mi | |
| 2006 | Arson/incendiarism | 16,423 | 20.2 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 14,910 | 46.5 mi | |
| 2006 | Arson/incendiarism | 14,000 | 23.6 mi | |
| 2011 | Debris and open burning | 11,382 | 49.6 mi | |
| 2018 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 10,816 | 32.7 mi | |
| 2009 | Debris and open burning | 10,216 | 36.3 mi | |
| 2017 | Arson/incendiarism | 9,636 | 34.5 mi | |
| 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 9,600 | 47.9 mi | |
| 2005 | Debris and open burning | 9,429 | 33.3 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 Oklahoma cities with population within ±25% of Bristow. 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.