In 2025, fire departments serving Fredericktown responded to 248 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $130K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Power line down lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 74% of all calls.
Jan peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
635 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $5.1M cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 78 | — | |
| 2022 | 116 | +48.7% | |
| 2023 | 107 | -7.8% | |
| 2024 | 86 | -19.6% | |
| 2025 | 248 | +188.4% |
For the 31 building fires Fredericktown departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 155 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 | 55 | 35.5% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 32 | 20.6% | |
| 3 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 13 | 8.4% | |
| 4 | Cooking area, kitchen | 7 | 4.5% | |
| 5 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 5 | 3.2% | |
| 6 | Attic: vacant, crawl space above top story, cupola | 4 | 2.6% | |
| 7 | Wall assembly | 4 | 2.6% | |
| 8 | Wall surface: exterior | 4 | 2.6% | |
| 9 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 3 | 1.9% | |
| 10 | Substructure area or space, crawl space | 3 | 1.9% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 25 | 16.1% |
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 Fredericktown mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 103 | 66.5% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 8 | 5.2% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 8 | 5.2% | |
| 4 | Hot ember or ash | 6 | 3.9% | |
| 5 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 5 | 3.2% | |
| 6 | Heat source: other | 3 | 1.9% | |
| 7 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 3 | 1.9% | |
| 8 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 2 | 1.3% | |
| 9 | Heat, spark from friction | 2 | 1.3% | |
| 10 | Match | 2 | 1.3% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 13 | 8.4% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Fredericktown departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $130,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $8,000 | Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $5,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $3,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $2,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $2,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $1,000 | Fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $500 | Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Fredericktown sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 19,493 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 3,422 | 38.9 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,146 | 36.5 mi | |
| 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,595 | 38.2 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,227 | 49.5 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 971 | 39.8 mi | |
| 2020 | Arson/incendiarism | 810 | 46.9 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 730 | 42.4 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 644 | 38.6 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 625 | 45.7 mi | |
| 2012 | Arson/incendiarism | 616 | 40.7 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 613 | 44.5 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 542 | 43.6 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 | 63645 | 635 |
Six Missouri cities with population within ±25% of Fredericktown. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Fredericktown.
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.