In 2025, fire departments serving Lamar responded to 82 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $25K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Building fires lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 72% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Nov dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
392 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $928K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 81 | — | |
| 2022 | 106 | +30.9% | |
| 2023 | 59 | -44.3% | |
| 2024 | 64 | +8.5% | |
| 2025 | 82 | +28.1% |
For the 20 building fires Lamar departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 164 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 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 43 | 26.2% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 31 | 18.9% | |
| 3 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 15 | 9.1% | |
| 4 | Undetermined | 15 | 9.1% | |
| 5 | Outside area, other | 10 | 6.1% | |
| 6 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 6 | 3.7% | |
| 7 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 4 | 2.4% | |
| 8 | Wall surface: exterior | 4 | 2.4% | |
| 9 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 3 | 1.8% | |
| 10 | Cooking area, kitchen | 3 | 1.8% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 30 | 18.3% |
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 Lamar mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 89 | 54.3% | |
| 2 | Hot ember or ash | 13 | 7.9% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 8 | 4.9% | |
| 4 | Heat, spark from friction | 8 | 4.9% | |
| 5 | Match | 8 | 4.9% | |
| 6 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 7 | 4.3% | |
| 7 | Flying brand, ember, spark | 7 | 4.3% | |
| 8 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 5 | 3.0% | |
| 9 | Cigarette | 4 | 2.4% | |
| 10 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 2 | 1.2% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 13 | 7.9% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Lamar departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 98% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $25,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $20,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $10,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $6,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $5,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $1,500 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $1,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $500 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Lamar sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 16,916 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,732 | 31.7 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,300 | 46.9 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,017 | 44.0 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,000 | 47.5 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 903 | 44.1 mi | |
| 2013 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 876 | 45.5 mi | |
| 1994 | Debris and open burning | 790 | 39.4 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 772 | 44.8 mi | |
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 723 | 31.8 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 613 | 32.7 mi | |
| 2006 | Arson/incendiarism | 602 | 43.7 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 600 | 33.9 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 | 64759 | 392 |
Six Missouri cities with population within ±25% of Lamar. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Lamar.
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.