In 2025, fire departments serving Oak Grove responded to 102 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $250K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 45% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
396 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $927K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 25 | — | |
| 2022 | 126 | — | |
| 2023 | 121 | -4.0% | |
| 2024* | 22 | — | |
| 2025 | 102 | — |
* Well below Oak Grove'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 2 building fires Oak Grove departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 93 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 | 30 | 32.3% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 14 | 15.1% | |
| 3 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 13 | 14.0% | |
| 4 | Outside area, other | 6 | 6.5% | |
| 5 | Cooking area, kitchen | 4 | 4.3% | |
| 6 | Cargo/trunk area - all vehicles | 4 | 4.3% | |
| 7 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 2 | 2.2% | |
| 8 | Wall surface: exterior | 2 | 2.2% | |
| 9 | Vehicle area, other | 2 | 2.2% | |
| 10 | Other | 1 | 1.1% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 15 | 16.1% |
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 Oak Grove mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 50 | 53.8% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 7 | 7.5% | |
| 3 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 5 | 5.4% | |
| 4 | Hot ember or ash | 4 | 4.3% | |
| 5 | Flying brand, ember, spark | 4 | 4.3% | |
| 6 | Heat, spark from friction | 3 | 3.2% | |
| 7 | Arcing | 2 | 2.2% | |
| 8 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 2 | 2.2% | |
| 9 | Fireworks | 2 | 2.2% | |
| 10 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 2 | 2.2% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 12 | 12.9% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Oak Grove departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $250,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $5,000 | Outside rubbish, trash or waste fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $5,000 | Outside rubbish, trash or waste fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $4,500 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $1,000 | Arcing, shorted electrical equipment | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $500 | Cooking fire, confined to container | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $50 | Outside equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $1 | Grass fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Oak Grove sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 11,279 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | Arson/incendiarism | 3,082 | 46.7 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,654 | 46.7 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 902 | 39.2 mi | |
| 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 800 | 43.3 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 360 | 48.4 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 350 | 43.2 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 300 | 21.1 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 300 | 39.7 mi | |
| 2018 | Debris and open burning | 292 | 28.9 mi | |
| 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 282 | 50.0 mi | |
| 2014 | Equipment and vehicle use | 276 | 40.9 mi | |
| 2006 | Natural | 260 | 48.7 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 Missouri cities with population within ±25% of Oak Grove. 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.