In 2025, fire departments serving Hermann responded to 29 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $1 building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 69% of all calls.
Mar peaks. May dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
85 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $5K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 5 | — | |
| 2022* | 4 | — | |
| 2023* | 7 | — | |
| 2024 | 40 | — | |
| 2025 | 29 | -27.5% |
* Well below Hermann'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 4 building fires Hermann departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 24 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 | 4 | 16.7% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 4 | 16.7% | |
| 3 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 3 | 12.5% | |
| 4 | Wildland, woods | 3 | 12.5% | |
| 5 | Structural area, other | 2 | 8.3% | |
| 6 | Other | 1 | 4.2% | |
| 7 | Cooking area, kitchen | 1 | 4.2% | |
| 8 | Storage room, area, tank, or bin | 1 | 4.2% | |
| 9 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 1 | 4.2% | |
| 10 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 1 | 4.2% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 3 | 12.5% |
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 Hermann mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 6 | 25.0% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 5 | 20.8% | |
| 3 | Heat source: other | 3 | 12.5% | |
| 4 | Hot ember or ash | 2 | 8.3% | |
| 5 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 2 | 8.3% | |
| 6 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 2 | 8.3% | |
| 7 | Fireworks | 1 | 4.2% | |
| 8 | Cigarette lighter | 1 | 4.2% | |
| 9 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 1 | 4.2% | |
| 10 | Multiple heat sources including multiple ignitions | 1 | 4.2% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Hermann departments in 2025. These 1 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $1 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Hermann sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 6,396 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1992 | Debris and open burning | 1,050 | 48.5 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 800 | 47.6 mi | |
| 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 685 | 6.6 mi | |
| 1992 | Debris and open burning | 517 | 39.0 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 454 | 49.6 mi | |
| 1999 | Debris and open burning | 360 | 40.9 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 300 | 44.7 mi | |
| 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 265 | 9.6 mi | |
| 2019 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 235 | 28.7 mi | |
| 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 185 | 5.4 mi | |
| 1999 | Debris and open burning | 150 | 34.5 mi | |
| 1995 | Debris and open burning | 130 | 43.0 mi |
Top 2 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 Hermann. 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.