In 2025, fire departments serving Fordland responded to 20 fire and hazmat incidents . Here's the full picture.
Building fires lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 100% of all calls.
Jan peaks. Sep dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
123 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $30K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 32 | — | |
| 2022 | 40 | +25.0% | |
| 2023* | 9 | — | |
| 2024 | 22 | — | |
| 2025 | 20 | -9.1% |
* Well below Fordland'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 11 building fires Fordland departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 21 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 | 10 | 47.6% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 3 | 14.3% | |
| 3 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 2 | 9.5% | |
| 4 | Other | 1 | 4.8% | |
| 5 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 1 | 4.8% | |
| 6 | Wall assembly | 1 | 4.8% | |
| 7 | Wall surface: exterior | 1 | 4.8% | |
| 8 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 1 | 4.8% | |
| 9 | Wildland, woods | 1 | 4.8% |
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 Fordland mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 13 | 61.9% | |
| 2 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 2 | 9.5% | |
| 3 | Hot ember or ash | 2 | 9.5% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 1 | 4.8% | |
| 5 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 1 | 4.8% | |
| 6 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 1 | 4.8% | |
| 7 | Flying brand, ember, spark | 1 | 4.8% |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Fordland sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 30,139 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,855 | 49.8 mi | |
| 2020 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,471 | 33.7 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,160 | 44.4 mi | |
| 2019 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,121 | 19.8 mi | |
| 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,101 | 39.5 mi | |
| 2019 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,732 | 48.1 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,625 | 34.3 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,212 | 15.8 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,178 | 34.1 mi | |
| 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,034 | 34.5 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,027 | 31.9 mi | |
| 2014 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,016 | 24.0 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 Fordland. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Fordland.
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.