In 2025, fire departments serving Dellwood responded to 30 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $5K 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 63% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Jul dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
133 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $366K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 5 | — | |
| 2022* | 7 | — | |
| 2023 | 53 | — | |
| 2024 | 38 | -28.3% | |
| 2025 | 30 | -21.1% |
* Well below Dellwood'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 9 building fires Dellwood departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 35 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 | 11 | 31.4% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 6 | 17.1% | |
| 3 | Other | 5 | 14.3% | |
| 4 | Cooking area, kitchen | 3 | 8.6% | |
| 5 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 3 | 8.6% | |
| 6 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 7 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 8 | Storage area, other | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 9 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 10 | Equipment or service area, other | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 2 | 5.7% |
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 Dellwood mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 22 | 62.9% | |
| 2 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 2 | 5.7% | |
| 3 | Hot ember or ash | 2 | 5.7% | |
| 4 | Fireworks | 2 | 5.7% | |
| 5 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 2 | 5.7% | |
| 6 | Heat source: other | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 7 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 8 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 9 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 10 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 1 | 2.9% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Dellwood departments in 2025. These 3 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $5,000 | Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $3,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $500 | Grass fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Dellwood sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 3,458 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 | 20.3 mi | |
| 1999 | Debris and open burning | 360 | 47.4 mi | |
| 1997 | Debris and open burning | 270 | 48.7 mi | |
| 2005 | Natural | 225 | 40.4 mi | |
| 2002 | Natural | 150 | 40.8 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 100 | 45.2 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 80 | 27.7 mi | |
| 2007 | Equipment and vehicle use | 80 | 20.4 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 75 | 37.4 mi | |
| 2020 | Debris and open burning | 60 | 40.5 mi | |
| 2004 | Recreation and ceremony | 56 | 44.4 mi | |
| 2003 | Arson/incendiarism | 50 | 39.3 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 Dellwood. 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.