In 2025, fire departments serving Fair Grove responded to 66 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $150K 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 65% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Nov dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
345 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $1.3M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 61 | — | |
| 2022 | 64 | +4.9% | |
| 2023 | 74 | +15.6% | |
| 2024 | 80 | +8.1% | |
| 2025 | 66 | -17.5% |
For the 12 building fires Fair Grove departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 171 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 | 44 | 25.7% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 29 | 17.0% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 28 | 16.4% | |
| 4 | Wildland, woods | 15 | 8.8% | |
| 5 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 13 | 7.6% | |
| 6 | Other | 4 | 2.3% | |
| 7 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 4 | 2.3% | |
| 8 | Attic: vacant, crawl space above top story, cupola | 3 | 1.8% | |
| 9 | Wall surface: exterior | 3 | 1.8% | |
| 10 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 2 | 1.2% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 26 | 15.2% |
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 Fair Grove mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 82 | 48.0% | |
| 2 | Hot ember or ash | 18 | 10.5% | |
| 3 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 13 | 7.6% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 8 | 4.7% | |
| 5 | Lightning | 8 | 4.7% | |
| 6 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 6 | 3.5% | |
| 7 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 5 | 2.9% | |
| 8 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 5 | 2.9% | |
| 9 | Heat source: other | 4 | 2.3% | |
| 10 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 3 | 1.8% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 19 | 11.1% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Fair Grove departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 99% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $150,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $75,000 | Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $30,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $10,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $10,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $5,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $5,000 | Fire in portable building, fixed location | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Fair Grove sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 27,647 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 3,500 | 36.5 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,855 | 36.4 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,160 | 33.4 mi | |
| 2019 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,121 | 37.1 mi | |
| 2019 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,732 | 31.2 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,212 | 33.8 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,027 | 34.3 mi | |
| 2014 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,016 | 39.4 mi | |
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,005 | 22.1 mi | |
| 1999 | Debris and open burning | 943 | 33.8 mi | |
| 1994 | Debris and open burning | 790 | 34.7 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 789 | 45.6 mi |
Top 6 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 Fair Grove. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Fair Grove.
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.