In 2025, fire departments serving Perry responded to 65 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $150K 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. Jan dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
364 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $2.5M cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 30 | — | |
| 2022 | 107 | — | |
| 2023 | 90 | -15.9% | |
| 2024 | 72 | -20.0% | |
| 2025 | 65 | -9.7% |
* Well below Perry'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 6 building fires Perry departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 121 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 | 38 | 31.4% | |
| 2 | Other | 13 | 10.7% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 12 | 9.9% | |
| 4 | Outside area, other | 11 | 9.1% | |
| 5 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 8 | 6.6% | |
| 6 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 5 | 4.1% | |
| 7 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 5 | 4.1% | |
| 8 | Cooking area, kitchen | 4 | 3.3% | |
| 9 | Vehicle area, other | 4 | 3.3% | |
| 10 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 3 | 2.5% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 18 | 14.9% |
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 Perry mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 66 | 54.5% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 11 | 9.1% | |
| 3 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 10 | 8.3% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 8 | 6.6% | |
| 5 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 5 | 4.1% | |
| 6 | Heat source: other | 3 | 2.5% | |
| 7 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 3 | 2.5% | |
| 8 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 3 | 2.5% | |
| 9 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 3 | 2.5% | |
| 10 | Heat, spark from friction | 2 | 1.7% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 7 | 5.8% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Perry departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 97% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $150,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $80,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $60,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $40,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $40,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $30,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $10,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Perry sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 121,094 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 14,910 | 47.6 mi | |
| 2011 | Debris and open burning | 11,382 | 40.7 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 8,600 | 14.9 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 6,887 | 22.3 mi | |
| 2018 | Arson/incendiarism | 6,830 | 48.0 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 6,580 | 43.0 mi | |
| 2008 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 6,325 | 44.6 mi | |
| 2006 | Arson/incendiarism | 5,000 | 46.1 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 4,922 | 42.6 mi | |
| 2000 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 4,500 | 44.4 mi | |
| 2011 | Arson/incendiarism | 4,226 | 42.5 mi | |
| 2000 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 3,840 | 32.7 mi |
Top 1 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
| # | ZIP | 5-yr incidents | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 73077 | 364 |
Six Oklahoma cities with population within ±25% of Perry. 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.