In 2025, fire departments serving Ellisville responded to 90 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $3K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 79% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
314 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $349K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 37 | — | |
| 2022* | 28 | — | |
| 2023 | 91 | — | |
| 2024 | 68 | -25.3% | |
| 2025 | 90 | +32.4% |
* Well below Ellisville'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 1 building fires Ellisville departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 23 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 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 5 | 21.7% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 3 | 13.0% | |
| 3 | Undetermined | 3 | 13.0% | |
| 4 | Cooking area, kitchen | 2 | 8.7% | |
| 5 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 2 | 8.7% | |
| 6 | Office | 1 | 4.3% | |
| 7 | Processing/manufacturing area, workroom | 1 | 4.3% | |
| 8 | Storage area, other | 1 | 4.3% | |
| 9 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 1 | 4.3% | |
| 10 | Equipment or service area, other | 1 | 4.3% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 3 | 13.0% |
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 Ellisville mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 8 | 34.8% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 3 | 13.0% | |
| 3 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 2 | 8.7% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 2 | 8.7% | |
| 5 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 2 | 8.7% | |
| 6 | Heat source: other | 1 | 4.3% | |
| 7 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 1 | 4.3% | |
| 8 | Hot ember or ash | 1 | 4.3% | |
| 9 | Fireworks | 1 | 4.3% | |
| 10 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 1 | 4.3% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 1 | 4.3% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Ellisville departments in 2025. These 1 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $3,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Ellisville sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 7,821 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 | 28.9 mi | |
| 2004 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,026 | 44.6 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 800 | 42.8 mi | |
| 1997 | Misuse of fire by a minor | 522 | 49.7 mi | |
| 2019 | Arson/incendiarism | 365 | 46.2 mi | |
| 1999 | Debris and open burning | 360 | 27.5 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 300 | 40.6 mi | |
| 1997 | Debris and open burning | 270 | 32.6 mi | |
| 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 265 | 38.6 mi | |
| 2011 | Arson/incendiarism | 264 | 44.8 mi | |
| 2009 | Arson/incendiarism | 256 | 47.0 mi | |
| 2005 | Natural | 225 | 32.9 mi |
Top 4 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 Ellisville. 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.