In 2025, fire departments serving Carthage responded to 249 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $300K 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 54% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Nov dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
817 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $3.9M cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 48 | — | |
| 2022* | 43 | — | |
| 2023 | 228 | — | |
| 2024 | 249 | +9.2% | |
| 2025 | 249 | +0.0% |
* Well below Carthage'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 42 building fires Carthage departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 224 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 | 51 | 22.8% | |
| 2 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 42 | 18.8% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 21 | 9.4% | |
| 4 | Outside area, other | 18 | 8.0% | |
| 5 | Wildland, woods | 7 | 3.1% | |
| 6 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 6 | 2.7% | |
| 7 | Wall surface: exterior | 6 | 2.7% | |
| 8 | Vehicle area, other | 6 | 2.7% | |
| 9 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 6 | 2.7% | |
| 10 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 5 | 2.2% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 56 | 25.0% |
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 Carthage mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 125 | 55.8% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 21 | 9.4% | |
| 3 | Hot ember or ash | 18 | 8.0% | |
| 4 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 9 | 4.0% | |
| 5 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 8 | 3.6% | |
| 6 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 6 | 2.7% | |
| 7 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 5 | 2.2% | |
| 8 | Cigarette lighter | 4 | 1.8% | |
| 9 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 4 | 1.8% | |
| 10 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 4 | 1.8% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 20 | 8.9% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Carthage departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 82% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $300,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $250,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 3 | $200,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $200,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $150,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $80,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Carthage sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 16,716 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,580 | 38.1 mi | |
| 2019 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,732 | 41.9 mi | |
| 2001 | Debris and open burning | 1,300 | 35.2 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 903 | 23.4 mi | |
| 2013 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 876 | 24.9 mi | |
| 2006 | Arson/incendiarism | 602 | 23.0 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 600 | 17.5 mi | |
| 2016 | Debris and open burning | 600 | 43.6 mi | |
| 1992 | Arson/incendiarism | 595 | 32.7 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 590 | 44.6 mi | |
| 2011 | Equipment and vehicle use | 580 | 37.4 mi | |
| 1992 | Debris and open burning | 562 | 25.7 mi |
Top 8 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 Carthage. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Carthage.
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.