In 2025, fire departments serving Freeman responded to 15 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $80K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Building fires lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 80% of all calls.
Jan peaks. Feb dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
88 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $376K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 11 | — | |
| 2022 | 25 | +127.3% | |
| 2023 | 16 | -36.0% | |
| 2024 | 21 | +31.2% | |
| 2025 | 15 | -28.6% |
For the 4 building fires Freeman departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 27 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 | 12 | 44.4% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 4 | 14.8% | |
| 3 | Cooking area, kitchen | 3 | 11.1% | |
| 4 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 2 | 7.4% | |
| 5 | Outside area, other | 2 | 7.4% | |
| 6 | Other | 1 | 3.7% | |
| 7 | Storage: supplies or tools; dead storage | 1 | 3.7% | |
| 8 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 1 | 3.7% | |
| 9 | Cargo/trunk area - all vehicles | 1 | 3.7% |
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 Freeman mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 11 | 40.7% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 5 | 18.5% | |
| 3 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 2 | 7.4% | |
| 4 | Hot ember or ash | 2 | 7.4% | |
| 5 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 2 | 7.4% | |
| 6 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 2 | 7.4% | |
| 7 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 3.7% | |
| 8 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 1 | 3.7% | |
| 9 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 1 | 3.7% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Freeman departments in 2025. These 4 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $80,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $5,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $500 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $100 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Freeman sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 24,599 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 6,000 | 42.3 mi | |
| 2002 | Arson/incendiarism | 3,082 | 40.8 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,654 | 40.8 mi | |
| 2014 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,129 | 45.9 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,000 | 41.9 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,000 | 42.2 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,000 | 34.3 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 800 | 46.7 mi | |
| 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 800 | 40.2 mi | |
| 2014 | Arson/incendiarism | 750 | 29.9 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 750 | 24.5 mi | |
| 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 700 | 31.2 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 | 64746 | 88 |
Six Missouri cities with population within ±25% of Freeman. 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.