In 2025, fire departments serving Potosi responded to 117 fire and hazmat incidents . Here's the full picture.
Building fires lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 91% of all calls.
Mar peaks. May dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
601 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2021. $225K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 201 | — | |
| 2022 | 126 | -37.3% | |
| 2023* | 63 | — | |
| 2024 | 94 | — | |
| 2025 | 117 | +24.5% |
* Well below Potosi'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 61 building fires Potosi departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 94 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 | 62 | 66.0% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 7 | 7.4% | |
| 3 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 6 | 6.4% | |
| 4 | Wildland, woods | 6 | 6.4% | |
| 5 | Equipment or service area, other | 3 | 3.2% | |
| 6 | Other | 2 | 2.1% | |
| 7 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 2 | 2.1% | |
| 8 | Entrance way, lobby | 1 | 1.1% | |
| 9 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 1 | 1.1% | |
| 10 | Cooking area, kitchen | 1 | 1.1% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 3 | 3.2% |
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 Potosi mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 82 | 87.2% | |
| 2 | Hot ember or ash | 5 | 5.3% | |
| 3 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 2 | 2.1% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 1 | 1.1% | |
| 5 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 1 | 1.1% | |
| 6 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 1 | 1.1% | |
| 7 | Radiated heat from another fire | 1 | 1.1% | |
| 8 | Flying brand, ember, spark | 1 | 1.1% |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Potosi sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 21,775 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Arson/incendiarism | 4,761 | 44.3 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,146 | 31.7 mi | |
| 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,595 | 49.7 mi | |
| 2004 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,026 | 15.4 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 971 | 33.3 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 800 | 17.7 mi | |
| 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 750 | 35.7 mi | |
| 1998 | Arson/incendiarism | 740 | 35.9 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 730 | 35.9 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 644 | 20.1 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 625 | 38.3 mi | |
| 2012 | Arson/incendiarism | 616 | 22.9 mi |
Top 10 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 Potosi. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Potosi.
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.