In 2025, fire departments serving Clarkson Valley responded to 10 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $50K 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 70% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Feb dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
25 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $53K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 1 | — | |
| 2022* | 0 | — | |
| 2023 | 6 | — | |
| 2024 | 8 | +33.3% | |
| 2025 | 10 | +25.0% |
* Well below Clarkson Valley'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 2 building fires Clarkson Valley departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 7 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 | Wildland, woods | 3 | 42.9% | |
| 2 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 1 | 14.3% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 1 | 14.3% | |
| 4 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 1 | 14.3% | |
| 5 | Undetermined | 1 | 14.3% |
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 Clarkson Valley mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 3 | 42.9% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 1 | 14.3% | |
| 3 | Cigarette lighter | 1 | 14.3% | |
| 4 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 1 | 14.3% | |
| 5 | Flying brand, ember, spark | 1 | 14.3% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Clarkson Valley departments in 2025. These 1 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Clarkson Valley sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 7,257 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,475 | 26.6 mi | |
| 2004 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,026 | 46.5 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 800 | 44.6 mi | |
| 2019 | Arson/incendiarism | 365 | 48.2 mi | |
| 1999 | Debris and open burning | 360 | 29.3 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 300 | 42.4 mi | |
| 1997 | Debris and open burning | 270 | 35.0 mi | |
| 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 265 | 37.6 mi | |
| 2011 | Arson/incendiarism | 264 | 46.9 mi | |
| 2009 | Arson/incendiarism | 256 | 49.1 mi | |
| 2005 | Natural | 225 | 35.2 mi | |
| 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 185 | 45.4 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 Missouri cities with population within ±25% of Clarkson Valley. 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.