In 2025, fire departments serving Foristell responded to 52 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $150K 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 58% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Feb dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
220 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2021. $2.2M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 65 | — | |
| 2022 | 49 | -24.6% | |
| 2023 | 33 | -32.7% | |
| 2024* | 21 | — | |
| 2025 | 52 | — |
* Well below Foristell'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 4 building fires Foristell departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 62 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 | 13 | 21.0% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 10 | 16.1% | |
| 3 | Wildland, woods | 8 | 12.9% | |
| 4 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 5 | 8.1% | |
| 5 | Cooking area, kitchen | 4 | 6.5% | |
| 6 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 4 | 6.5% | |
| 7 | Wall surface: exterior | 3 | 4.8% | |
| 8 | Cargo/trunk area - all vehicles | 3 | 4.8% | |
| 9 | Outside area, other | 3 | 4.8% | |
| 10 | Roof surface: exterior | 2 | 3.2% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 7 | 11.3% |
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 Foristell mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 30 | 48.4% | |
| 2 | Hot ember or ash | 10 | 16.1% | |
| 3 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 6 | 9.7% | |
| 4 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 2 | 3.2% | |
| 5 | Fireworks | 2 | 3.2% | |
| 6 | Match | 2 | 3.2% | |
| 7 | Flying brand, ember, spark | 2 | 3.2% | |
| 8 | Heat source: other | 1 | 1.6% | |
| 9 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 1 | 1.6% | |
| 10 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 1.6% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 5 | 8.1% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Foristell departments in 2025. These 4 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $150,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $40,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $300 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Foristell sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 6,011 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 | 28.6 mi | |
| 1992 | Debris and open burning | 1,050 | 35.0 mi | |
| 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 685 | 33.3 mi | |
| 1999 | Debris and open burning | 360 | 37.4 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 300 | 47.9 mi | |
| 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 265 | 17.1 mi | |
| 2019 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 235 | 48.5 mi | |
| 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 185 | 24.5 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 140 | 47.3 mi | |
| 1995 | Debris and open burning | 130 | 45.6 mi | |
| 2016 | Debris and open burning | 112 | 26.9 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 100 | 33.6 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 | 63348 | 220 |
Six Missouri cities with population within ±25% of Foristell. 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.