In 2025, fire departments serving Marshall responded to 121 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $200K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Unauthorized burning lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 52% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Feb dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
596 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $3.7M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 114 | — | |
| 2022 | 126 | +10.5% | |
| 2023 | 125 | -0.8% | |
| 2024 | 110 | -12.0% | |
| 2025 | 121 | +10.0% |
For the 8 building fires Marshall departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 250 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 | 36 | 14.4% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 34 | 13.6% | |
| 3 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 29 | 11.6% | |
| 4 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 27 | 10.8% | |
| 5 | Undetermined | 20 | 8.0% | |
| 6 | Attic: vacant, crawl space above top story, cupola | 16 | 6.4% | |
| 7 | Cooking area, kitchen | 11 | 4.4% | |
| 8 | Other | 7 | 2.8% | |
| 9 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 7 | 2.8% | |
| 10 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 6 | 2.4% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 57 | 22.8% |
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 Marshall mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 78 | 31.2% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 27 | 10.8% | |
| 3 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 27 | 10.8% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 15 | 6.0% | |
| 5 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 12 | 4.8% | |
| 6 | Hot ember or ash | 11 | 4.4% | |
| 7 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 11 | 4.4% | |
| 8 | Heat, spark from friction | 9 | 3.6% | |
| 9 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 8 | 3.2% | |
| 10 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 7 | 2.8% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 45 | 18.0% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Marshall departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 91% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $200,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $35,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $25,000 | Grass fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $10,000 | Fires in structures other than in a building | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $10,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $5,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $5,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Marshall sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 6,110 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,071 | 26.9 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 902 | 46.1 mi | |
| 2000 | Smoking | 380 | 34.3 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 300 | 47.1 mi | |
| 1999 | Debris and open burning | 300 | 29.1 mi | |
| 2018 | Debris and open burning | 292 | 49.7 mi | |
| 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 263 | 43.5 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 211 | 49.8 mi | |
| 2002 | Debris and open burning | 200 | 29.7 mi | |
| 2018 | Debris and open burning | 175 | 33.1 mi | |
| 2002 | Debris and open burning | 175 | 37.5 mi | |
| 2001 | Debris and open burning | 174 | 49.3 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 Marshall. 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.