In 2025, fire departments serving Gray Summit responded to 12 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $2K 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 67% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Apr dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
45 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $7K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 8 | — | |
| 2022 | 7 | -12.5% | |
| 2023* | 5 | — | |
| 2024 | 13 | — | |
| 2025 | 12 | -7.7% |
* Well below Gray Summit'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 0 building fires Gray Summit departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 5 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 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 2 | 40.0% | |
| 2 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 2 | 40.0% | |
| 3 | Undetermined | 1 | 20.0% |
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 Gray Summit mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 2 | 40.0% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 1 | 20.0% | |
| 3 | Heat, spark from friction | 1 | 20.0% | |
| 4 | Cigarette lighter | 1 | 20.0% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Gray Summit departments in 2025. These 2 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $2,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $250 | Outside rubbish, trash or waste fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Gray Summit sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 9,686 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 | 39.2 mi | |
| 2004 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,026 | 33.2 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 800 | 31.0 mi | |
| 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 685 | 41.1 mi | |
| 1997 | Misuse of fire by a minor | 522 | 39.4 mi | |
| 1992 | Debris and open burning | 517 | 38.6 mi | |
| 2005 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 387 | 39.4 mi | |
| 2019 | Arson/incendiarism | 365 | 35.3 mi | |
| 1999 | Debris and open burning | 360 | 15.8 mi | |
| 2012 | Misuse of fire by a minor | 325 | 48.7 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 300 | 28.4 mi | |
| 1997 | Debris and open burning | 270 | 27.0 mi |
Top 4 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 Gray Summit. 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.