In 2025, fire departments serving Jennings responded to 190 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $100K 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. Oct dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
1,028 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $1.3M cumulative property loss. 2 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 201 | — | |
| 2022 | 181 | -10.0% | |
| 2023 | 197 | +8.8% | |
| 2024 | 259 | +31.5% | |
| 2025 | 190 | -26.6% |
For the 51 building fires Jennings departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 349 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 | 67 | 19.2% | |
| 2 | Cooking area, kitchen | 57 | 16.3% | |
| 3 | Undetermined | 38 | 10.9% | |
| 4 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 34 | 9.7% | |
| 5 | Other | 17 | 4.9% | |
| 6 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 17 | 4.9% | |
| 7 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 17 | 4.9% | |
| 8 | Vehicle area, other | 15 | 4.3% | |
| 9 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 11 | 3.2% | |
| 10 | Attic: vacant, crawl space above top story, cupola | 8 | 2.3% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 68 | 19.5% |
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 Jennings mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 181 | 51.9% | |
| 2 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 25 | 7.2% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 24 | 6.9% | |
| 4 | Hot ember or ash | 19 | 5.4% | |
| 5 | Heat source: other | 14 | 4.0% | |
| 6 | Arcing | 14 | 4.0% | |
| 7 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 13 | 3.7% | |
| 8 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 8 | 2.3% | |
| 9 | Fireworks | 8 | 2.3% | |
| 10 | Match | 8 | 2.3% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 35 | 10.0% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Jennings departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 99% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $80,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $30,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $30,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $30,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $20,000 | Fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $20,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $5,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Jennings sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 3,501 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,475 | 22.6 mi | |
| 1999 | Debris and open burning | 360 | 46.3 mi | |
| 1997 | Debris and open burning | 270 | 47.0 mi | |
| 2005 | Natural | 225 | 38.2 mi | |
| 2002 | Natural | 150 | 38.5 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 100 | 47.5 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 80 | 25.3 mi | |
| 2007 | Equipment and vehicle use | 80 | 22.5 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 75 | 38.8 mi | |
| 2020 | Debris and open burning | 60 | 38.1 mi | |
| 2004 | Recreation and ceremony | 56 | 42.7 mi | |
| 2003 | Arson/incendiarism | 50 | 37.6 mi |
Top 6 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 Jennings. 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.