In 2025, fire departments serving Clinton responded to 154 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $140K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Unauthorized burning lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 70% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Sep dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
1,032 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $3.9M cumulative property loss. 4 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 195 | — | |
| 2022 | 236 | +21.0% | |
| 2023 | 221 | -6.4% | |
| 2024 | 226 | +2.3% | |
| 2025 | 154 | -31.9% |
For the 14 building fires Clinton departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 284 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 | 46 | 16.2% | |
| 2 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 39 | 13.7% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 37 | 13.0% | |
| 4 | Wildland, woods | 16 | 5.6% | |
| 5 | Outside area, other | 14 | 4.9% | |
| 6 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 13 | 4.6% | |
| 7 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 9 | 3.2% | |
| 8 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 8 | 2.8% | |
| 9 | Cooking area, kitchen | 8 | 2.8% | |
| 10 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 8 | 2.8% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 86 | 30.3% |
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 Clinton mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 106 | 37.3% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 27 | 9.5% | |
| 3 | Hot ember or ash | 24 | 8.5% | |
| 4 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 20 | 7.0% | |
| 5 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 16 | 5.6% | |
| 6 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 11 | 3.9% | |
| 7 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 9 | 3.2% | |
| 8 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 9 | 3.2% | |
| 9 | Heat, spark from friction | 8 | 2.8% | |
| 10 | Cigarette | 7 | 2.5% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 47 | 16.5% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Clinton departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 72% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $140,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $75,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $75,000 | Grass fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $51,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $51,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $50,000 | Building or structure weakened or collapsed | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Clinton sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
12 fire-related casualties recorded in NFIRS Module 11 across the 2021–2025 window. Age, gender, and severity are coarse-binned — no individual identification possible.
| Age | Count | |
|---|---|---|
| 0-9 | 0 | |
| 10-19 | 0 | |
| 20-29 | 3 | |
| 30-39 | 3 | |
| 40-49 | 2 | |
| 50-59 | 1 | |
| 60-69 | 1 | |
| 70-79 | 1 | |
| 80+ | 1 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 20,964 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | Arson/incendiarism | 3,082 | 2.9 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,803 | 24.1 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,654 | 2.9 mi | |
| 2014 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,129 | 2.9 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,017 | 23.9 mi | |
| 1994 | Debris and open burning | 790 | 45.5 mi | |
| 2014 | Arson/incendiarism | 750 | 49.3 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 750 | 47.7 mi | |
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 723 | 34.9 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 707 | 28.9 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 649 | 6.4 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 640 | 45.3 mi |
Top 5 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 Clinton. 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.