In 2025, fire departments serving Pevely responded to 67 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $174K 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 70% of all calls.
Jul peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
485 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2021. $222K cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 116 | — | |
| 2022 | 110 | -5.2% | |
| 2023 | 103 | -6.4% | |
| 2024 | 89 | -13.6% | |
| 2025 | 67 | -24.7% |
For the 20 building fires Pevely departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 54 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 | 16 | 29.6% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 13 | 24.1% | |
| 3 | Vehicle area, other | 4 | 7.4% | |
| 4 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 3 | 5.6% | |
| 5 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 2 | 3.7% | |
| 6 | Processing/manufacturing area, workroom | 2 | 3.7% | |
| 7 | Wildland, woods | 2 | 3.7% | |
| 8 | Other | 1 | 1.9% | |
| 9 | Cooking area, kitchen | 1 | 1.9% | |
| 10 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 1 | 1.9% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 9 | 16.7% |
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 Pevely mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 42 | 77.8% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 3 | 5.6% | |
| 3 | Heat source: other | 1 | 1.9% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 1 | 1.9% | |
| 5 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 1 | 1.9% | |
| 6 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 1 | 1.9% | |
| 7 | Hot ember or ash | 1 | 1.9% | |
| 8 | Cigarette | 1 | 1.9% | |
| 9 | Backfire from internal combustion engine | 1 | 1.9% | |
| 10 | Lightning | 1 | 1.9% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 1 | 1.9% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Pevely departments in 2025. These 2 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $174,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $13,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Pevely sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
14 fire-related casualties recorded in NFIRS Module 11 across the 2021–2025 window. Age, gender, and severity are coarse-binned — no individual identification possible.
| Age | Count | |
|---|---|---|
| 0-9 | 1 | |
| 10-19 | 0 | |
| 20-29 | 5 | |
| 30-39 | 1 | |
| 40-49 | 2 | |
| 50-59 | 3 | |
| 60-69 | 1 | |
| 70-79 | 0 | |
| 80+ | 1 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 8,814 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,475 | 49.6 mi | |
| 2004 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,026 | 37.9 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 800 | 37.6 mi | |
| 1997 | Misuse of fire by a minor | 522 | 39.8 mi | |
| 2005 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 387 | 43.3 mi | |
| 2019 | Arson/incendiarism | 365 | 38.2 mi | |
| 1999 | Debris and open burning | 360 | 27.4 mi | |
| 2012 | Misuse of fire by a minor | 325 | 45.0 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 300 | 36.9 mi | |
| 1997 | Debris and open burning | 270 | 18.6 mi | |
| 2011 | Arson/incendiarism | 264 | 35.6 mi | |
| 2009 | Arson/incendiarism | 256 | 37.9 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 Missouri cities with population within ±25% of Pevely. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Pevely.
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.