In 2025, fire departments serving Kirkwood responded to 10 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $25K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Incomplete 2025 data. Kirkwood's departments reported 10 incidents to NFIRS for 2025, against about 33 in a typical year, so 2025 figures on this page undercount. The 2021–2025 totals are the better guide.
Passenger vehicle fire lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 70% of all calls.
Oct peaks. Feb dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
163 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2021. $119K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 49 | — | |
| 2022 | 41 | -16.3% | |
| 2023 | 38 | -7.3% | |
| 2024 | 25 | -34.2% | |
| 2025* | 10 | — |
* Well below Kirkwood'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 1 building fires Kirkwood departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 37 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 | 10 | 27.0% | |
| 2 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 7 | 18.9% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 4 | 10.8% | |
| 4 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 2 | 5.4% | |
| 5 | Cooking area, kitchen | 2 | 5.4% | |
| 6 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 2 | 5.4% | |
| 7 | Heating room or area, water heater area | 2 | 5.4% | |
| 8 | Cargo/trunk area - all vehicles | 2 | 5.4% | |
| 9 | Outside area, other | 2 | 5.4% | |
| 10 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 1 | 2.7% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 3 | 8.1% |
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 Kirkwood mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 15 | 40.5% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 7 | 18.9% | |
| 3 | Heat source: other | 2 | 5.4% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 2 | 5.4% | |
| 5 | Heat, spark from friction | 2 | 5.4% | |
| 6 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 1 | 2.7% | |
| 7 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 2.7% | |
| 8 | Molten, hot material | 1 | 2.7% | |
| 9 | Hot ember or ash | 1 | 2.7% | |
| 10 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 1 | 2.7% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 4 | 10.8% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Kirkwood departments in 2025. These 1 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $25,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Kirkwood sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 1,328 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | Arson/incendiarism | 136 | 42.7 mi | |
| 2012 | Debris and open burning | 102 | 47.3 mi | |
| 1999 | Debris and open burning | 85 | 35.6 mi | |
| 2006 | Arson/incendiarism | 82 | 49.8 mi | |
| 2006 | Equipment and vehicle use | 81 | 47.8 mi | |
| 2014 | Arson/incendiarism | 75 | 37.9 mi | |
| 1997 | Debris and open burning | 60 | 7.6 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 53 | 45.9 mi | |
| 2015 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 53 | 5.5 mi | |
| 1994 | Debris and open burning | 50 | 40.6 mi | |
| 2003 | Arson/incendiarism | 49 | 34.8 mi | |
| 2015 | Arson/incendiarism | 43 | 43.7 mi |
Top 1 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
| # | ZIP | 5-yr incidents | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 13795 | 163 |
Six New York cities with population within ±25% of Kirkwood. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
2 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Kirkwood.
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.