In 2025, fire departments serving Herculaneum responded to 64 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $47K 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 64% of all calls.
Sep peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
254 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $261K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 48 | — | |
| 2022 | 50 | +4.2% | |
| 2023 | 53 | +6.0% | |
| 2024 | 39 | -26.4% | |
| 2025 | 64 | +64.1% |
For the 16 building fires Herculaneum departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 38 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 | 11 | 28.9% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 5 | 13.2% | |
| 3 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 3 | 7.9% | |
| 4 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 2 | 5.3% | |
| 5 | Railroad right of way: on or near | 2 | 5.3% | |
| 6 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 2 | 5.3% | |
| 7 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 1 | 2.6% | |
| 8 | Cooking area, kitchen | 1 | 2.6% | |
| 9 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 1 | 2.6% | |
| 10 | Processing/manufacturing area, workroom | 1 | 2.6% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 9 | 23.7% |
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 Herculaneum mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 17 | 44.7% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 6 | 15.8% | |
| 3 | Match | 3 | 7.9% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 2 | 5.3% | |
| 5 | Heat, spark from friction | 2 | 5.3% | |
| 6 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 2 | 5.3% | |
| 7 | Heat source: other | 1 | 2.6% | |
| 8 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 1 | 2.6% | |
| 9 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 2.6% | |
| 10 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 1 | 2.6% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 2 | 5.3% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Herculaneum departments in 2025. These 4 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $47,400 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $40,500 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $16,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $1 | Outside rubbish fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Herculaneum sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
13 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 | 1 | |
| 30-39 | 4 | |
| 40-49 | 2 | |
| 50-59 | 5 | |
| 60-69 | 1 | |
| 70-79 | 0 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 7,489 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,026 | 37.2 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 800 | 37.1 mi | |
| 1997 | Misuse of fire by a minor | 522 | 38.8 mi | |
| 2005 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 387 | 42.6 mi | |
| 2019 | Arson/incendiarism | 365 | 37.4 mi | |
| 1999 | Debris and open burning | 360 | 27.6 mi | |
| 2012 | Misuse of fire by a minor | 325 | 43.7 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 300 | 36.6 mi | |
| 1997 | Debris and open burning | 270 | 17.6 mi | |
| 2011 | Arson/incendiarism | 264 | 34.8 mi | |
| 2009 | Arson/incendiarism | 256 | 37.0 mi | |
| 2018 | Debris and open burning | 254 | 35.6 mi |
Top 3 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 Herculaneum. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Herculaneum.
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.