In 2025, fire departments serving Riverside responded to 91 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $95K 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 56% of all calls.
Jan peaks. Apr dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
344 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $397K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 78 | — | |
| 2022 | 77 | -1.3% | |
| 2023 | 50 | -35.1% | |
| 2024 | 48 | -4.0% | |
| 2025 | 91 | +89.6% |
For the 3 building fires Riverside departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 100 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 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 20 | 20.0% | |
| 2 | Cooking area, kitchen | 17 | 17.0% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 13 | 13.0% | |
| 4 | Other | 8 | 8.0% | |
| 5 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 7 | 7.0% | |
| 6 | Vehicle area, other | 5 | 5.0% | |
| 7 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 5 | 5.0% | |
| 8 | Undetermined | 4 | 4.0% | |
| 9 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 3 | 3.0% | |
| 10 | Incinerator area | 2 | 2.0% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 16 | 16.0% |
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 Riverside mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 42 | 42.0% | |
| 2 | Heat source: other | 8 | 8.0% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 7 | 7.0% | |
| 4 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 7 | 7.0% | |
| 5 | Hot ember or ash | 7 | 7.0% | |
| 6 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 6 | 6.0% | |
| 7 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 5 | 5.0% | |
| 8 | Arcing | 4 | 4.0% | |
| 9 | Fireworks | 3 | 3.0% | |
| 10 | Heat, spark from friction | 2 | 2.0% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 9 | 9.0% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Riverside departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 99% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $95,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $60,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $30,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $25,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $8,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $5,000 | Fuel burner/boiler malfunction, fire confined | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $5,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $2,000 | Water vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Riverside sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 11,812 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 902 | 48.0 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 900 | 30.8 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 800 | 31.0 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 800 | 28.7 mi | |
| 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 800 | 16.6 mi | |
| 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 750 | 25.1 mi | |
| 2018 | Arson/incendiarism | 667 | 31.3 mi | |
| 1999 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 500 | 36.1 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 450 | 28.7 mi | |
| 2005 | Debris and open burning | 429 | 47.7 mi | |
| 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 412 | 49.0 mi | |
| 2015 | Debris and open burning | 400 | 26.0 mi |
Top 4 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 Riverside. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Riverside.
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.