In 2025, fire departments serving Hillsboro responded to 201 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $148K 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 65% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
1,023 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $3.9M cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 217 | — | |
| 2022 | 197 | -9.2% | |
| 2023 | 244 | +23.9% | |
| 2024 | 164 | -32.8% | |
| 2025 | 201 | +22.6% |
For the 47 building fires Hillsboro departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 259 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 | 62 | 23.9% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 41 | 15.8% | |
| 3 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 36 | 13.9% | |
| 4 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 27 | 10.4% | |
| 5 | Wildland, woods | 14 | 5.4% | |
| 6 | Cooking area, kitchen | 9 | 3.5% | |
| 7 | Vehicle area, other | 8 | 3.1% | |
| 8 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 7 | 2.7% | |
| 9 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 5 | 1.9% | |
| 10 | Duct: hvac, cable, exhaust, heating, or AC | 4 | 1.5% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 46 | 17.8% |
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 Hillsboro mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 136 | 52.5% | |
| 2 | Hot ember or ash | 26 | 10.0% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 10 | 3.9% | |
| 4 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 10 | 3.9% | |
| 5 | Heat source: other | 9 | 3.5% | |
| 6 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 9 | 3.5% | |
| 7 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 6 | 2.3% | |
| 8 | Arcing | 6 | 2.3% | |
| 9 | Flying brand, ember, spark | 6 | 2.3% | |
| 10 | Cigarette lighter | 5 | 1.9% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 36 | 13.9% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Hillsboro departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 93% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $147,724 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $83,208 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $75,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $38,000 | Camper or recreational vehicle (RV) fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $34,284 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $30,846 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $11,675 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Hillsboro sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
6 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 | 1 | |
| 10-19 | 0 | |
| 20-29 | 4 | |
| 30-39 | 0 | |
| 40-49 | 0 | |
| 50-59 | 1 | |
| 60-69 | 0 | |
| 70-79 | 0 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 10,399 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 | 28.0 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 800 | 27.7 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 644 | 43.6 mi | |
| 2012 | Arson/incendiarism | 616 | 46.4 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 542 | 45.4 mi | |
| 1997 | Misuse of fire by a minor | 522 | 30.4 mi | |
| 1992 | Debris and open burning | 517 | 43.7 mi | |
| 2004 | Debris and open burning | 493 | 47.3 mi | |
| 1998 | Arson/incendiarism | 459 | 45.7 mi | |
| 2008 | Arson/incendiarism | 414 | 45.7 mi | |
| 2005 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 387 | 33.6 mi | |
| 2019 | Arson/incendiarism | 365 | 28.5 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 Hillsboro. 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.