In 2025, fire departments serving Ladue responded to 119 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $4.1M building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Power line down lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 76% of all calls.
May peaks. Jan dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
557 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2021. $5.1M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 152 | — | |
| 2022 | 105 | -30.9% | |
| 2023 | 104 | -1.0% | |
| 2024 | 77 | -26.0% | |
| 2025 | 119 | +54.5% |
For the 18 building fires Ladue departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 78 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 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 15 | 19.2% | |
| 2 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 13 | 16.7% | |
| 3 | Cooking area, kitchen | 5 | 6.4% | |
| 4 | Wall assembly | 4 | 5.1% | |
| 5 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 4 | 5.1% | |
| 6 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 3 | 3.8% | |
| 7 | Heating room or area, water heater area | 3 | 3.8% | |
| 8 | Attic: vacant, crawl space above top story, cupola | 3 | 3.8% | |
| 9 | Exterior, exposed surface | 3 | 3.8% | |
| 10 | Undetermined | 3 | 3.8% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 22 | 28.2% |
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 Ladue mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 27 | 34.6% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 11 | 14.1% | |
| 3 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 9 | 11.5% | |
| 4 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 8 | 10.3% | |
| 5 | Hot ember or ash | 5 | 6.4% | |
| 6 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 4 | 5.1% | |
| 7 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 3 | 3.8% | |
| 8 | Heat source: other | 2 | 2.6% | |
| 9 | Molten, hot material | 2 | 2.6% | |
| 10 | Lightning | 2 | 2.6% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 5 | 6.4% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Ladue departments in 2025. These 6 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $4,120,700 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $146,615 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $20,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $15,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $4,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $2,500 | Cooking fire, confined to container | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Ladue sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 4,224 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 | 25.7 mi | |
| 1999 | Debris and open burning | 360 | 37.7 mi | |
| 1997 | Debris and open burning | 270 | 38.9 mi | |
| 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 265 | 48.7 mi | |
| 2005 | Natural | 225 | 32.5 mi | |
| 2002 | Natural | 150 | 32.9 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 150 | 43.2 mi | |
| 1997 | Smoking | 135 | 48.2 mi | |
| 1995 | Debris and open burning | 130 | 48.6 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 120 | 49.5 mi | |
| 1994 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 104 | 48.1 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 100 | 49.3 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 Ladue. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Ladue.
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.