In 2025, fire departments serving Lake Ozark responded to 105 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $80K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Natural vegetation fire, other lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 47% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Jan dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
208 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $477K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 49 | — | |
| 2022 | 40 | -18.4% | |
| 2023* | 8 | — | |
| 2024* | 6 | — | |
| 2025 | 105 | — |
* Well below Lake Ozark'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 5 building fires Lake Ozark departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 53 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 | 17 | 32.1% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 10 | 18.9% | |
| 3 | Wildland, woods | 6 | 11.3% | |
| 4 | Cooking area, kitchen | 3 | 5.7% | |
| 5 | Cargo/trunk area - all vehicles | 3 | 5.7% | |
| 6 | Other | 2 | 3.8% | |
| 7 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 2 | 3.8% | |
| 8 | Courtyard, patio, porch, terrace | 2 | 3.8% | |
| 9 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 2 | 3.8% | |
| 10 | Exterior stairway, ramp, or fire escape | 1 | 1.9% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 5 | 9.4% |
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 Lake Ozark mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 32 | 60.4% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 9 | 17.0% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 3 | 5.7% | |
| 4 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 2 | 3.8% | |
| 5 | Heat source: other | 1 | 1.9% | |
| 6 | Molten, hot material | 1 | 1.9% | |
| 7 | Cigarette | 1 | 1.9% | |
| 8 | Cigarette lighter | 1 | 1.9% | |
| 9 | Candle | 1 | 1.9% | |
| 10 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 1 | 1.9% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 1 | 1.9% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Lake Ozark departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $80,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $60,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $15,000 | Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $8,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $6,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $1,200 | Fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $1,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $500 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Lake Ozark sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 28,256 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 3,500 | 28.0 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,855 | 27.6 mi | |
| 1993 | Debris and open burning | 2,245 | 7.0 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,160 | 30.5 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,803 | 44.2 mi | |
| 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,249 | 45.0 mi | |
| 2007 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,212 | 42.5 mi | |
| 1999 | Debris and open burning | 1,049 | 45.3 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,027 | 49.6 mi | |
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,005 | 48.1 mi | |
| 1999 | Debris and open burning | 943 | 30.5 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 789 | 20.9 mi |
Top 2 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 Lake Ozark. 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.