In 2025, fire departments serving Knob Noster responded to 46 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $24K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Vehicle accident, general cleanup lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 67% of all calls.
Feb peaks. Oct dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
379 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2021. $467K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 104 | — | |
| 2022 | 102 | -1.9% | |
| 2023 | 81 | -20.6% | |
| 2024 | 46 | -43.2% | |
| 2025 | 46 | +0.0% |
For the 5 building fires Knob Noster departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 76 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 | 19 | 25.0% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 8 | 10.5% | |
| 3 | Vehicle area, other | 5 | 6.6% | |
| 4 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 5 | 6.6% | |
| 5 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 5 | 6.6% | |
| 6 | Cooking area, kitchen | 4 | 5.3% | |
| 7 | Wall surface: exterior | 4 | 5.3% | |
| 8 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 3 | 3.9% | |
| 9 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 3 | 3.9% | |
| 10 | Wall assembly | 3 | 3.9% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 17 | 22.4% |
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 Knob Noster mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 46 | 60.5% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 6 | 7.9% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 5 | 6.6% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 2 | 2.6% | |
| 5 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 2 | 2.6% | |
| 6 | Heat, spark from friction | 2 | 2.6% | |
| 7 | Hot ember or ash | 2 | 2.6% | |
| 8 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 2 | 2.6% | |
| 9 | Conducted heat from another fire | 2 | 2.6% | |
| 10 | Cigarette | 1 | 1.3% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 6 | 7.9% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Knob Noster departments in 2025. These 3 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $23,738 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $12,124 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $4,393 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Knob Noster sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 16,519 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | Arson/incendiarism | 3,082 | 30.5 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,803 | 43.9 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,654 | 30.5 mi | |
| 2014 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,129 | 31.3 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 745 | 49.8 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 649 | 35.9 mi | |
| 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 609 | 45.3 mi | |
| 1999 | Debris and open burning | 537 | 40.1 mi | |
| 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 500 | 48.9 mi | |
| 1995 | Debris and open burning | 498 | 47.0 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 485 | 31.2 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 460 | 37.5 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 | 65336 | 379 |
Six Missouri cities with population within ±25% of Knob Noster. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Knob Noster.
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.