In 2025, fire departments serving New Madrid responded to 50 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $400K 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 74% of all calls.
Aug peaks. Oct dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
175 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $567K cumulative property loss. 4 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 10 | — | |
| 2022 | 35 | — | |
| 2023 | 29 | -17.1% | |
| 2024 | 51 | +75.9% | |
| 2025 | 50 | -2.0% |
* Well below New Madrid'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 10 building fires New Madrid departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 48 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 | 35.4% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 7 | 14.6% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 5 | 10.4% | |
| 4 | Other | 3 | 6.2% | |
| 5 | Cooking area, kitchen | 3 | 6.2% | |
| 6 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 2 | 4.2% | |
| 7 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 1 | 2.1% | |
| 8 | Bathroom, checkroom, lavatory, locker room | 1 | 2.1% | |
| 9 | Closet | 1 | 2.1% | |
| 10 | Equipment or service area, other | 1 | 2.1% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 7 | 14.6% |
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 New Madrid mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 31 | 64.6% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 3 | 6.2% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 3 | 6.2% | |
| 4 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 2 | 4.2% | |
| 5 | Heat, spark from friction | 2 | 4.2% | |
| 6 | Heat source: other | 1 | 2.1% | |
| 7 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 1 | 2.1% | |
| 8 | Explosive, fireworks, other | 1 | 2.1% | |
| 9 | Fireworks | 1 | 2.1% | |
| 10 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 1 | 2.1% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 2 | 4.2% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by New Madrid departments in 2025. These 4 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $400,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $15,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $5,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $1,000 | Special outside fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. New Madrid sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 3,432 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 | 569 | 25.7 mi | |
| 1999 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 500 | 38.0 mi | |
| 2006 | Debris and open burning | 400 | 43.1 mi | |
| 2007 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 227 | 46.5 mi | |
| 1996 | Debris and open burning | 170 | 45.3 mi | |
| 2000 | Debris and open burning | 168 | 44.2 mi | |
| 1995 | Debris and open burning | 122 | 33.8 mi | |
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 106 | 44.9 mi | |
| 2007 | Recreation and ceremony | 104 | 41.5 mi | |
| 1999 | Equipment and vehicle use | 95 | 28.7 mi | |
| 2000 | Debris and open burning | 90 | 48.5 mi | |
| 2018 | Arson/incendiarism | 90 | 46.8 mi |
Top 4 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 New Madrid. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in New Madrid.
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.