In 2025, fire departments serving Jackson responded to 180 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $500K 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 55% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Oct dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
861 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $4.0M cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 150 | — | |
| 2022 | 169 | +12.7% | |
| 2023 | 193 | +14.2% | |
| 2024 | 169 | -12.4% | |
| 2025 | 180 | +6.5% |
For the 28 building fires Jackson departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 292 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 | Outside area, other | 56 | 19.2% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 32 | 11.0% | |
| 3 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 27 | 9.2% | |
| 4 | Undetermined | 27 | 9.2% | |
| 5 | Cooking area, kitchen | 18 | 6.2% | |
| 6 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 11 | 3.8% | |
| 7 | Other | 10 | 3.4% | |
| 8 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 10 | 3.4% | |
| 9 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 9 | 3.1% | |
| 10 | Vehicle area, other | 8 | 2.7% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 84 | 28.8% |
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 Jackson mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 122 | 41.8% | |
| 2 | Hot ember or ash | 22 | 7.5% | |
| 3 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 18 | 6.2% | |
| 4 | Heat source: other | 15 | 5.1% | |
| 5 | Cigarette lighter | 14 | 4.8% | |
| 6 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 13 | 4.5% | |
| 7 | Arcing | 13 | 4.5% | |
| 8 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 12 | 4.1% | |
| 9 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 10 | 3.4% | |
| 10 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 7 | 2.4% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 46 | 15.8% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Jackson departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 98% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $500,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $120,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $30,000 | Power line down | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $20,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $10,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $9,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Jackson sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
7 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 | 1 | |
| 40-49 | 2 | |
| 50-59 | 1 | |
| 60-69 | 1 | |
| 70-79 | 0 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 5,250 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 569 | 30.2 mi | |
| 2012 | Natural | 495 | 45.1 mi | |
| 2011 | Arson/incendiarism | 429 | 49.8 mi | |
| 2010 | Arson/incendiarism | 409 | 20.0 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 276 | 45.0 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 273 | 35.4 mi | |
| 1995 | Arson/incendiarism | 245 | 19.6 mi | |
| 2004 | Debris and open burning | 239 | 48.8 mi | |
| 2020 | Arson/incendiarism | 220 | 49.6 mi | |
| 2007 | Arson/incendiarism | 207 | 47.8 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 200 | 40.2 mi | |
| 1994 | Arson/incendiarism | 161 | 44.8 mi |
Top 5 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 Jackson. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
2 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Jackson.
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.