In 2025, fire departments serving Morris responded to 25 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $40K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Grass fire lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 64% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Jul dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
149 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $759K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 26 | — | |
| 2022 | 39 | +50.0% | |
| 2023 | 28 | -28.2% | |
| 2024 | 31 | +10.7% | |
| 2025 | 25 | -19.4% |
For the 1 building fires Morris departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 107 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 | 50 | 46.7% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 15 | 14.0% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 12 | 11.2% | |
| 4 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 8 | 7.5% | |
| 5 | Outside area, other | 4 | 3.7% | |
| 6 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 2 | 1.9% | |
| 7 | Cooking area, kitchen | 2 | 1.9% | |
| 8 | Bathroom, checkroom, lavatory, locker room | 2 | 1.9% | |
| 9 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 2 | 1.9% | |
| 10 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 2 | 1.9% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 8 | 7.5% |
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 Morris mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 52 | 48.6% | |
| 2 | Hot ember or ash | 22 | 20.6% | |
| 3 | Match | 7 | 6.5% | |
| 4 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 5 | 4.7% | |
| 5 | Arcing | 4 | 3.7% | |
| 6 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 3 | 2.8% | |
| 7 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 2 | 1.9% | |
| 8 | Heat, spark from friction | 2 | 1.9% | |
| 9 | Molten, hot material | 2 | 1.9% | |
| 10 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 2 | 1.9% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 6 | 5.6% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Morris departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $40,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $10,000 | Fires in structures other than in a building | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $6,500 | Cultivated vegetation, crop fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $1,000 | Grass fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $1,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $500 | Grass fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $300 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $300 | Fire in motor home, camper, recreational vehicle | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Morris sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 279,011 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | Smoking | 58,501 | 40.1 mi | |
| 2016 | Debris and open burning | 21,860 | 14.2 mi | |
| 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 17,299 | 33.1 mi | |
| 2006 | Arson/incendiarism | 16,423 | 39.6 mi | |
| 2006 | Arson/incendiarism | 14,000 | 17.4 mi | |
| 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 14,000 | 42.0 mi | |
| 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 10,880 | 28.5 mi | |
| 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 9,600 | 44.9 mi | |
| 2005 | Debris and open burning | 9,429 | 33.9 mi | |
| 2005 | Arson/incendiarism | 9,080 | 13.9 mi | |
| 2018 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 8,792 | 40.5 mi | |
| 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 8,500 | 24.8 mi |
Top 3 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
Six Oklahoma cities with population within ±25% of Morris. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Morris.
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.