In 2025, fire departments serving Fenton responded to 230 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $200K 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 52% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Feb dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
1,100 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $3.2M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 185 | — | |
| 2022 | 232 | +25.4% | |
| 2023 | 201 | -13.4% | |
| 2024 | 252 | +25.4% | |
| 2025 | 230 | -8.7% |
For the 22 building fires Fenton departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 165 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 | 43 | 26.1% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 14 | 8.5% | |
| 3 | Cooking area, kitchen | 12 | 7.3% | |
| 4 | Outside area, other | 9 | 5.5% | |
| 5 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 7 | 4.2% | |
| 6 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 6 | 3.6% | |
| 7 | Wall surface: exterior | 6 | 3.6% | |
| 8 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 6 | 3.6% | |
| 9 | Vehicle area, other | 5 | 3.0% | |
| 10 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 5 | 3.0% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 52 | 31.5% |
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 Fenton mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 66 | 40.0% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 16 | 9.7% | |
| 3 | Heat source: other | 15 | 9.1% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 13 | 7.9% | |
| 5 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 11 | 6.7% | |
| 6 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 7 | 4.2% | |
| 7 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 5 | 3.0% | |
| 8 | Heat, spark from friction | 4 | 2.4% | |
| 9 | Hot ember or ash | 4 | 2.4% | |
| 10 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 3 | 1.8% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 21 | 12.7% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Fenton departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 95% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $200,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $150,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $53,811 | Fire in mobile home used as fixed residence | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $20,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $20,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $10,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $8,500 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $8,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Fenton sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 7,709 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 | 32.7 mi | |
| 2004 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,026 | 45.8 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 800 | 44.5 mi | |
| 1997 | Misuse of fire by a minor | 522 | 49.9 mi | |
| 2019 | Arson/incendiarism | 365 | 47.0 mi | |
| 1999 | Debris and open burning | 360 | 30.1 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 300 | 42.7 mi | |
| 1997 | Debris and open burning | 270 | 30.5 mi | |
| 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 265 | 47.1 mi | |
| 2011 | Arson/incendiarism | 264 | 45.1 mi | |
| 2009 | Arson/incendiarism | 256 | 47.4 mi | |
| 2005 | Natural | 225 | 25.9 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 Fenton. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Fenton.
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.