In 2025, fire departments serving Forsyth responded to 107 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $260K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Grass fire lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 69% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
437 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $2.6M cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 92 | — | |
| 2022 | 82 | -10.9% | |
| 2023 | 76 | -7.3% | |
| 2024 | 80 | +5.3% | |
| 2025 | 107 | +33.8% |
For the 19 building fires Forsyth departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 162 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 | Outside area, other | 43 | 26.5% | |
| 2 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 22 | 13.6% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 14 | 8.6% | |
| 4 | Undetermined | 11 | 6.8% | |
| 5 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 10 | 6.2% | |
| 6 | Cooking area, kitchen | 9 | 5.6% | |
| 7 | Other | 6 | 3.7% | |
| 8 | Wildland, woods | 5 | 3.1% | |
| 9 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 4 | 2.5% | |
| 10 | Function area, other | 3 | 1.9% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 35 | 21.6% |
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 Forsyth mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 56 | 34.6% | |
| 2 | Hot ember or ash | 29 | 17.9% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 12 | 7.4% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 8 | 4.9% | |
| 5 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 8 | 4.9% | |
| 6 | Cigarette lighter | 6 | 3.7% | |
| 7 | Heat source: other | 5 | 3.1% | |
| 8 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 5 | 3.1% | |
| 9 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 5 | 3.1% | |
| 10 | Flying brand, ember, spark | 5 | 3.1% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 23 | 14.2% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Forsyth departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 99% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $260,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $130,879 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $37,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $30,068 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $15,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $5,000 | Fire in motor home, camper, recreational vehicle | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $2,500 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $2,000 | Grass fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Forsyth sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
6 fire-related casualties recorded in NFIRS Module 11 across the 2021–2025 window. Age, gender, and severity are coarse-binned — no individual identification possible.
| Age | Count | |
|---|---|---|
| 0-9 | 0 | |
| 10-19 | 0 | |
| 20-29 | 2 | |
| 30-39 | 1 | |
| 40-49 | 2 | |
| 50-59 | 0 | |
| 60-69 | 0 | |
| 70-79 | 1 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 24,985 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,471 | 16.9 mi | |
| 2019 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,121 | 14.9 mi | |
| 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,101 | 15.6 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,625 | 16.1 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,212 | 19.0 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,178 | 14.8 mi | |
| 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,034 | 14.2 mi | |
| 2014 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,016 | 9.6 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,000 | 49.9 mi | |
| 1995 | Arson/incendiarism | 990 | 45.6 mi | |
| 2010 | Arson/incendiarism | 889 | 16.5 mi | |
| 2003 | Arson/incendiarism | 775 | 46.5 mi |
Top 5 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 Forsyth. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Forsyth.
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.