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2025 Annual Fire Report

Fires in Hugo, Oklahoma

In 2025, fire departments serving Hugo responded to 70 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $200K building blaze. Here's the full picture.

Updated Sep 27, 2026 Grade D Peak yr 2022 Choctaw County 5,178 residents 2 reporting departments 802 5-yr

Incomplete 2025 data. Hugo's departments reported 70 incidents to NFIRS for 2025, against about 160 in a typical year, so 2025 figures on this page undercount. The 2021–2025 totals are the better guide.

Total incidents
70
Not comparable with 2024 (incomplete reporting)
Building fires
6
Residential 67% Other 33%
Property loss
$720K
$574K structure · $146K contents
Deaths & injuries
0 / 0
0 civilian deaths · 0 civ injuries · 0 firefighter injuries
01 The mix

What kinds of fires happen here?

Unauthorized burning lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 74% of all calls.

70
Total Incidents
Unauthorized burning 28 40.0%
Grass fire 10 14.3%
Building fires 6 8.6%
Fire, other 5 7.1%
Passenger vehicle fire 3 4.3%
All other categories 18 25.7%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen?

Jan peaks. Aug dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.

Jan 25
Feb 6
Mar 18
Apr 7
May 7
Jun 6
Jul 1
Aug 0
Sep 0
Oct 0
Nov 0
Dec 0
Fewer
More
2b Five-year trend

Year over year in Hugo

802 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $6.8M cumulative property loss. 3 civilian deaths.

YearIncidentsYoY 
2021 133 —
2022 239 +79.7%
2023 185 -22.6%
2024 175 -5.4%
2025* 70 —

* Well below Hugo'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.

03 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 6 building fires Hugo departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.

Unintentional
25%
4
Cause undetermined
19%
3
Intentional / arson
0%
0
Equipment / heat source failure
19%
3
Under investigation
38%
6
Act of nature (lightning)
-1%
0
3b Where fires start

Where do fires start in Hugo?

NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 233 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 originCountShare 
1 Undetermined 127 54.5%
2 Vehicle area, other 16 6.9%
3 Engine area, running gear, wheel area 16 6.9%
4 Open area - outside; included are farmland, field 7 3.0%
5 Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge 5 2.1%
6 Structural area, other 5 2.1%
7 Wall surface: exterior 5 2.1%
8 Other 4 1.7%
9 Storage area, other 4 1.7%
10 Outside area, other 4 1.7%
11 All other areas 40 17.2%
3c What ignited it

What actually ignited the fire?

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 Hugo mix.

#Heat sourceCountShare 
1 Undetermined 180 77.3%
2 Heat source: other 12 5.2%
3 Heat from powered equipment, other 7 3.0%
4 Hot or smoldering object, other 7 3.0%
5 Arcing 6 2.6%
6 Heat spread from another fire, other 5 2.1%
7 Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment 3 1.3%
8 Heat, spark from friction 2 0.9%
9 Heat from other open flame or smoking materials 2 0.9%
10 Cigarette lighter 2 0.9%
11 All other sources 7 3.0%
04 The biggest fires

8 fires · $566K in losses

Largest single-incident property losses reported by Hugo departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 99% of the city's annual total.

# Property loss Type Severity Status
1 $200,000 Building fires Significant Investigated
2 $150,000 Building fires Significant Investigated
3 $100,000 Building fires Significant Investigated
4 $50,000 Building fires Significant Investigated
5 $30,000 Building fires Significant Investigated
6 $15,000 Fire in mobile home used as fixed residence Significant Investigated
7 $11,000 Passenger vehicle fire Significant Investigated
8 $10,000 Fire in mobile home used as fixed residence Significant Investigated
05 How Hugo compares

Hugo vs Oklahoma vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Hugo sits above the national average for incidents per resident.

13.52
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Hugo
13.52
OK avg
10.19
US avg
7.48
1.16
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Hugo
1.16
OK avg
0.91
US avg
0.85
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
Hugo
0
OK avg
6.6
US avg
5.9
5b Who gets hurt

Casualty demographics in Hugo

10 fire-related casualties recorded in NFIRS Module 11 across the 2021–2025 window. Age, gender, and severity are coarse-binned — no individual identification possible.

AgeCount 
0-9 2
10-19 1
20-29 2
30-39 3
40-49 0
50-59 0
60-69 1
70-79 1
80+ 0
Civilian vs firefighter
Civilian 10 FF 0
Gender
M 7 F 3 Unk 0
Severity (1=minor → 5=fatal)
3
1
3
2
0
3
0
4
3
5
5c Wildfires nearby

Wildfires within 50 mi of Hugo

Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 96,212 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.

50 mi radius
YearCauseAcresDistance 
2011 Arson/incendiarism 9,500 48.3 mi
2006 Arson/incendiarism 6,750 46.9 mi
2005 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 6,400 30.9 mi
2008 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 5,700 41.7 mi
2003 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 5,200 48.7 mi
1996 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 5,120 45.9 mi
2006 Equipment and vehicle use 4,900 44.8 mi
2006 Equipment and vehicle use 4,700 31.0 mi
2018 Debris and open burning 4,220 48.0 mi
2006 Natural 4,000 34.7 mi
2011 Arson/incendiarism 3,600 50.0 mi
2009 Debris and open burning 3,100 41.4 mi
5d Top ZIPs

Where in Hugo do fires concentrate?

Top 2 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.

#ZIP5-yr incidents 
1 74743 801
2 74756 1
5e Peer cities

Cities similar to Hugo

Six Oklahoma cities with population within ±25% of Hugo. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.

06 First responders

Who responds in Hugo?

2 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Hugo.

Messer
2708 E 2020 RD
FDID 12007Volunteer
Speer
297 N 4190 RD N
FDID 12012
07 Stay prepared

Before the next Red Flag day.

A 30-minute weekend can cut your home's exposure substantially. These four checklists are a good starting point.

About this data

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.