In 2025, fire departments serving Kissee Mills responded to 46 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $125K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Authorized controlled burning lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 63% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Apr dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
169 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $558K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 20 | — | |
| 2022 | 31 | — | |
| 2023 | 38 | +22.6% | |
| 2024 | 34 | -10.5% | |
| 2025 | 46 | +35.3% |
* Well below Kissee Mills'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 4 building fires Kissee Mills departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 64 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 | 12 | 18.8% | |
| 2 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 10 | 15.6% | |
| 3 | Undetermined | 10 | 15.6% | |
| 4 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 6 | 9.4% | |
| 5 | Wildland, woods | 6 | 9.4% | |
| 6 | Other | 3 | 4.7% | |
| 7 | Vehicle area, other | 3 | 4.7% | |
| 8 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 2 | 3.1% | |
| 9 | Function area, other | 1 | 1.6% | |
| 10 | Cooking area, kitchen | 1 | 1.6% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 10 | 15.6% |
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 Kissee Mills mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 28 | 43.8% | |
| 2 | Cigarette lighter | 8 | 12.5% | |
| 3 | Hot ember or ash | 6 | 9.4% | |
| 4 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 5 | 7.8% | |
| 5 | Arcing | 4 | 6.2% | |
| 6 | Flying brand, ember, spark | 3 | 4.7% | |
| 7 | Heat source: other | 2 | 3.1% | |
| 8 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 2 | 3.1% | |
| 9 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 1 | 1.6% | |
| 10 | Cigarette | 1 | 1.6% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 4 | 6.2% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Kissee Mills departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $125,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $45,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $20,000 | Water vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $8,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $5,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $5,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $1,500 | Fire in motor home, camper, recreational vehicle | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $350 | Water vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Kissee Mills sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 28,936 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,471 | 13.9 mi | |
| 2019 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,121 | 14.6 mi | |
| 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,101 | 12.4 mi | |
| 2005 | Natural | 1,631 | 47.7 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,625 | 13.1 mi | |
| 2001 | Debris and open burning | 1,470 | 49.3 mi | |
| 2015 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,350 | 47.3 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,212 | 18.8 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,178 | 11.7 mi | |
| 2012 | Natural | 1,126 | 47.2 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,063 | 49.4 mi | |
| 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,034 | 11.1 mi |
Top 3 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 Kissee Mills. 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.