In 2025, fire departments serving Newcastle responded to 92 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $250K 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 60% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Nov dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
510 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $479K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 63 | — | |
| 2022 | 153 | +142.9% | |
| 2023 | 92 | -39.9% | |
| 2024 | 110 | +19.6% | |
| 2025 | 92 | -16.4% |
For the 4 building fires Newcastle departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 231 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 | 98 | 42.4% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 37 | 16.0% | |
| 3 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 23 | 10.0% | |
| 4 | Other | 12 | 5.2% | |
| 5 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 12 | 5.2% | |
| 6 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 10 | 4.3% | |
| 7 | Cooking area, kitchen | 5 | 2.2% | |
| 8 | Wildland, woods | 4 | 1.7% | |
| 9 | Attic: vacant, crawl space above top story, cupola | 3 | 1.3% | |
| 10 | Roof surface: exterior | 3 | 1.3% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 24 | 10.4% |
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 Newcastle mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 149 | 64.5% | |
| 2 | Hot ember or ash | 16 | 6.9% | |
| 3 | Heat source: other | 14 | 6.1% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 9 | 3.9% | |
| 5 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 7 | 3.0% | |
| 6 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 5 | 2.2% | |
| 7 | Arcing | 5 | 2.2% | |
| 8 | Lightning | 5 | 2.2% | |
| 9 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 4 | 1.7% | |
| 10 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 3 | 1.3% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 14 | 6.1% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Newcastle departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 98% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $250,000 | Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $80,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $30,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $20,000 | Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $15,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $10,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $10,000 | Grass fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $5,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Newcastle sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 128,912 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 26,000 | 13.3 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 12,500 | 49.3 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 8,954 | 22.8 mi | |
| 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 7,000 | 38.1 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 6,766 | 22.2 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 6,500 | 29.4 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 6,400 | 47.7 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 5,760 | 49.1 mi | |
| 2011 | Natural | 4,800 | 48.8 mi | |
| 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 4,000 | 44.2 mi | |
| 2000 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 4,000 | 41.0 mi | |
| 2000 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 3,840 | 41.4 mi |
Top 5 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 Newcastle. 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.