In 2025, fire departments serving Canton responded to 32 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $149K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Building fires lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 63% of all calls.
Jul peaks. Jan dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
88 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $329K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 8 | — | |
| 2022 | 11 | — | |
| 2023 | 15 | +36.4% | |
| 2024 | 22 | +46.7% | |
| 2025 | 32 | +45.5% |
* Well below Canton's usual volume. That almost always means one or more departments didn't submit a full year to NFIRS, not that fires dropped, so no year-over-year change is shown for it.
For the 6 building fires Canton departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 22 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 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 5 | 22.7% | |
| 2 | Other | 4 | 18.2% | |
| 3 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 4 | 18.2% | |
| 4 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 2 | 9.1% | |
| 5 | Undetermined | 2 | 9.1% | |
| 6 | Structural area, other | 1 | 4.5% | |
| 7 | Wall surface: exterior | 1 | 4.5% | |
| 8 | Vehicle area, other | 1 | 4.5% | |
| 9 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 1 | 4.5% | |
| 10 | Wildland, woods | 1 | 4.5% |
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 Canton mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 9 | 40.9% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 2 | 9.1% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 2 | 9.1% | |
| 4 | Hot ember or ash | 2 | 9.1% | |
| 5 | Heat source: other | 1 | 4.5% | |
| 6 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 1 | 4.5% | |
| 7 | Heat, spark from friction | 1 | 4.5% | |
| 8 | Fireworks | 1 | 4.5% | |
| 9 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 1 | 4.5% | |
| 10 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 1 | 4.5% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 1 | 4.5% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Canton departments in 2025. These 7 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $149,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $70,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $40,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $10,000 | Grass fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $10,000 | Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $5,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $100 | Water vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Canton sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 3,999 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 835 | 39.7 mi | |
| 1999 | Debris and open burning | 280 | 4.9 mi | |
| 1999 | Equipment and vehicle use | 238 | 19.7 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 210 | 34.0 mi | |
| 1999 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 200 | 39.7 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 200 | 26.6 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 200 | 42.9 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 196 | 44.1 mi | |
| 2002 | Debris and open burning | 180 | 45.4 mi | |
| 1999 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 150 | 39.7 mi | |
| 1994 | Arson/incendiarism | 140 | 43.5 mi | |
| 2018 | Debris and open burning | 108 | 37.4 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 Canton. 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.