In 2025, fire departments serving Cameron responded to 97 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $500K 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 64% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Jan dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
456 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2021. $2.1M cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 100 | — | |
| 2022 | 94 | -6.0% | |
| 2023 | 95 | +1.1% | |
| 2024 | 70 | -26.3% | |
| 2025 | 97 | +38.6% |
For the 7 building fires Cameron departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 220 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 | 209 | 95.0% | |
| 2 | Other | 4 | 1.8% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 3 | 1.4% | |
| 4 | Cooking area, kitchen | 2 | 0.9% | |
| 5 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 1 | 0.5% | |
| 6 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 1 | 0.5% |
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 Cameron mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 210 | 95.5% | |
| 2 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 4 | 1.8% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 1 | 0.5% | |
| 4 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 0.5% | |
| 5 | Hot ember or ash | 1 | 0.5% | |
| 6 | Fireworks | 1 | 0.5% | |
| 7 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 1 | 0.5% | |
| 8 | Chemical reaction | 1 | 0.5% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Cameron departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 98% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $500,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $80,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $80,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $80,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $30,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $10,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $5,000 | Grass fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Cameron sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 8,950 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 902 | 24.1 mi | |
| 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 700 | 21.3 mi | |
| 2018 | Arson/incendiarism | 667 | 45.4 mi | |
| 1997 | Debris and open burning | 600 | 13.7 mi | |
| 1999 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 500 | 39.7 mi | |
| 2002 | Debris and open burning | 500 | 46.1 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 400 | 33.9 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 400 | 33.9 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 400 | 48.2 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 300 | 49.8 mi | |
| 1999 | Debris and open burning | 300 | 47.6 mi | |
| 2002 | Arson/incendiarism | 300 | 40.7 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 Cameron. 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.