In 2025, fire departments serving Nichols Hills responded to 29 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $634K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Arcing, shorted electrical equipment lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 66% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Jan dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
169 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $1.5M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 37 | — | |
| 2022 | 52 | +40.5% | |
| 2023 | 30 | -42.3% | |
| 2024 | 21 | -30.0% | |
| 2025 | 29 | +38.1% |
For the 2 building fires Nichols Hills departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 23 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 | Outside area, other | 7 | 30.4% | |
| 2 | Other | 3 | 13.0% | |
| 3 | Function area, other | 2 | 8.7% | |
| 4 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 2 | 8.7% | |
| 5 | Undetermined | 2 | 8.7% | |
| 6 | Egress/exit, other | 1 | 4.3% | |
| 7 | Cooking area, kitchen | 1 | 4.3% | |
| 8 | Bathroom, checkroom, lavatory, locker room | 1 | 4.3% | |
| 9 | Ceiling & floor assembly, crawl space b/t stories | 1 | 4.3% | |
| 10 | Attic: vacant, crawl space above top story, cupola | 1 | 4.3% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 2 | 8.7% |
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 Nichols Hills mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 9 | 39.1% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 5 | 21.7% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 2 | 8.7% | |
| 4 | Other static discharge | 2 | 8.7% | |
| 5 | Heat source: other | 1 | 4.3% | |
| 6 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 1 | 4.3% | |
| 7 | Candle | 1 | 4.3% | |
| 8 | Conducted heat from another fire | 1 | 4.3% | |
| 9 | Multiple heat sources including multiple ignitions | 1 | 4.3% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Nichols Hills departments in 2025. These 3 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $633,700 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $250,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 3 | $10,000 | Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Nichols Hills sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 101,147 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 | 10.1 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 8,954 | 30.3 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 8,600 | 37.7 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 6,766 | 43.6 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 6,500 | 49.5 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 6,400 | 36.7 mi | |
| 2000 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 3,840 | 20.3 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 3,475 | 13.4 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 3,250 | 18.3 mi | |
| 2006 | Firearms and explosives use | 3,000 | 35.9 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,950 | 34.9 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,621 | 20.2 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 Oklahoma cities with population within ±25% of Nichols Hills. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Nichols Hills.
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.