In 2025, fire departments serving Concordia responded to 49 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $1K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Grass fire lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 57% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Jun dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
184 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $23K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 18 | — | |
| 2022 | 28 | — | |
| 2023 | 45 | +60.7% | |
| 2024 | 44 | -2.2% | |
| 2025 | 49 | +11.4% |
* Well below Concordia'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 3 building fires Concordia departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 78 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 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 27 | 34.6% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 17 | 21.8% | |
| 3 | Undetermined | 9 | 11.5% | |
| 4 | Outside area, other | 8 | 10.3% | |
| 5 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 8 | 10.3% | |
| 6 | Attic: vacant, crawl space above top story, cupola | 2 | 2.6% | |
| 7 | Cooking area, kitchen | 1 | 1.3% | |
| 8 | Duct: hvac, cable, exhaust, heating, or AC | 1 | 1.3% | |
| 9 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 1 | 1.3% | |
| 10 | Wall assembly | 1 | 1.3% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 3 | 3.8% |
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 Concordia mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 49 | 62.8% | |
| 2 | Hot ember or ash | 15 | 19.2% | |
| 3 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 3 | 3.8% | |
| 4 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 3 | 3.8% | |
| 5 | Heat, spark from friction | 3 | 3.8% | |
| 6 | Arcing | 1 | 1.3% | |
| 7 | Molten, hot material | 1 | 1.3% | |
| 8 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 1 | 1.3% | |
| 9 | Lightning | 1 | 1.3% | |
| 10 | Multiple heat sources including multiple ignitions | 1 | 1.3% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Concordia departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 86% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $1,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $1,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $1,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $500 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $500 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $500 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $500 | Grass fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $500 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Concordia sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 13,410 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 | 44.5 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,654 | 44.5 mi | |
| 2014 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,129 | 45.9 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,071 | 38.5 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 902 | 41.2 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 485 | 45.8 mi | |
| 2000 | Smoking | 380 | 47.4 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 360 | 39.1 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 302 | 43.6 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 300 | 26.0 mi | |
| 1999 | Debris and open burning | 300 | 37.2 mi | |
| 2018 | Debris and open burning | 292 | 39.2 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 Concordia. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
2 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Concordia.
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.