In 2025, fire departments serving Elk City responded to 127 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $34K 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 58% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Aug dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
904 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $4.7M cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 179 | — | |
| 2022 | 233 | +30.2% | |
| 2023 | 188 | -19.3% | |
| 2024 | 177 | -5.9% | |
| 2025 | 127 | -28.2% |
For the 9 building fires Elk City departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 261 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 | 50 | 19.2% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 31 | 11.9% | |
| 3 | Undetermined | 20 | 7.7% | |
| 4 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 18 | 6.9% | |
| 5 | Outside area, other | 17 | 6.5% | |
| 6 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 11 | 4.2% | |
| 7 | Bathroom, checkroom, lavatory, locker room | 11 | 4.2% | |
| 8 | Cooking area, kitchen | 9 | 3.4% | |
| 9 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 8 | 3.1% | |
| 10 | Vehicle area, other | 7 | 2.7% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 79 | 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 Elk City mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 126 | 48.3% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 25 | 9.6% | |
| 3 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 18 | 6.9% | |
| 4 | Hot ember or ash | 18 | 6.9% | |
| 5 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 11 | 4.2% | |
| 6 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 10 | 3.8% | |
| 7 | Heat, spark from friction | 8 | 3.1% | |
| 8 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 7 | 2.7% | |
| 9 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 6 | 2.3% | |
| 10 | Cigarette lighter | 5 | 1.9% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 27 | 10.3% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Elk City departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 82% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $34,000 | Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $25,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $20,000 | Fires in structures other than in a building | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $15,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $10,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $10,000 | Power line down | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $5,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $5,000 | Fires in structures other than in a building | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Elk City sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 438,601 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 286,196 | 34.2 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 52,790 | 41.7 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 21,400 | 25.0 mi | |
| 2018 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 12,530 | 41.1 mi | |
| 2018 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 7,257 | 39.7 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 6,530 | 43.5 mi | |
| 2008 | Debris and open burning | 5,000 | 40.0 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 4,000 | 47.8 mi | |
| 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 4,000 | 26.2 mi | |
| 2015 | Equipment and vehicle use | 3,636 | 46.5 mi | |
| 1998 | Debris and open burning | 3,410 | 29.1 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 3,091 | 44.6 mi |
Top 1 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
| # | ZIP | 5-yr incidents | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 73644 | 904 |
Six Oklahoma cities with population within ±25% of Elk City. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Elk City.
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.