In 2025, fire departments serving Chillicothe responded to 29 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $75K 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 55% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Jan dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
75 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $132K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 2 | — | |
| 2022 | 9 | — | |
| 2023* | 2 | — | |
| 2024 | 33 | — | |
| 2025 | 29 | -12.1% |
* Well below Chillicothe'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 5 building fires Chillicothe departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 42 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 | 8 | 19.0% | |
| 2 | Other | 7 | 16.7% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 6 | 14.3% | |
| 4 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 3 | 7.1% | |
| 5 | Cooking area, kitchen | 2 | 4.8% | |
| 6 | Bathroom, checkroom, lavatory, locker room | 2 | 4.8% | |
| 7 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 2 | 4.8% | |
| 8 | Egress/exit, other | 1 | 2.4% | |
| 9 | Function area, other | 1 | 2.4% | |
| 10 | Storage area, other | 1 | 2.4% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 9 | 21.4% |
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 Chillicothe mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 13 | 31.0% | |
| 2 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 9 | 21.4% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 6 | 14.3% | |
| 4 | Hot ember or ash | 2 | 4.8% | |
| 5 | Multiple heat sources including multiple ignitions | 2 | 4.8% | |
| 6 | Heat source: other | 1 | 2.4% | |
| 7 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 2.4% | |
| 8 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 1 | 2.4% | |
| 9 | Heat, spark from friction | 1 | 2.4% | |
| 10 | Molten, hot material | 1 | 2.4% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 5 | 11.9% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Chillicothe departments in 2025. These 7 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $75,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $10,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $5,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $2,000 | Outside rubbish, trash or waste fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $1,500 | Cultivated grain or crop fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $800 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $500 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Chillicothe sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 7,810 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,071 | 25.0 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 902 | 24.6 mi | |
| 1997 | Debris and open burning | 600 | 38.6 mi | |
| 2000 | Smoking | 380 | 22.6 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 350 | 30.5 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 327 | 39.6 mi | |
| 2005 | Debris and open burning | 300 | 26.8 mi | |
| 1999 | Debris and open burning | 300 | 21.5 mi | |
| 2002 | Arson/incendiarism | 300 | 44.8 mi | |
| 2018 | Debris and open burning | 292 | 36.8 mi | |
| 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 263 | 18.6 mi | |
| 2018 | Debris and open burning | 249 | 35.5 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 Chillicothe. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
2 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Chillicothe.
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.