In 2025, fire departments serving Shrewsbury responded to 67 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $64K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Power line down lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 66% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Nov dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
390 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $1.3M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 67 | — | |
| 2022 | 90 | +34.3% | |
| 2023 | 85 | -5.6% | |
| 2024 | 81 | -4.7% | |
| 2025 | 67 | -17.3% |
For the 8 building fires Shrewsbury departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 70 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 | Cooking area, kitchen | 15 | 21.4% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 12 | 17.1% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 9 | 12.9% | |
| 4 | Undetermined | 5 | 7.1% | |
| 5 | Bathroom, checkroom, lavatory, locker room | 4 | 5.7% | |
| 6 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 4 | 5.7% | |
| 7 | Function area, other | 2 | 2.9% | |
| 8 | Storage: supplies or tools; dead storage | 2 | 2.9% | |
| 9 | Wall surface: exterior | 2 | 2.9% | |
| 10 | Roof surface: exterior | 2 | 2.9% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 13 | 18.6% |
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 Shrewsbury mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 19 | 27.1% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 14 | 20.0% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 6 | 8.6% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 5 | 7.1% | |
| 5 | Heat source: other | 4 | 5.7% | |
| 6 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 4 | 5.7% | |
| 7 | Hot ember or ash | 3 | 4.3% | |
| 8 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 3 | 4.3% | |
| 9 | Cigarette | 2 | 2.9% | |
| 10 | Cigarette lighter | 2 | 2.9% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 8 | 11.4% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Shrewsbury departments in 2025. These 5 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $63,690 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $4,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $3,000 | Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $1,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $500 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Shrewsbury sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
18 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 | 0 | |
| 10-19 | 0 | |
| 20-29 | 6 | |
| 30-39 | 3 | |
| 40-49 | 1 | |
| 50-59 | 6 | |
| 60-69 | 2 | |
| 70-79 | 0 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 4,126 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 | 29.9 mi | |
| 1999 | Debris and open burning | 360 | 37.8 mi | |
| 1997 | Debris and open burning | 270 | 37.0 mi | |
| 2005 | Natural | 225 | 28.7 mi | |
| 1995 | Debris and open burning | 150 | 48.3 mi | |
| 2002 | Natural | 150 | 29.1 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 150 | 40.4 mi | |
| 1997 | Smoking | 135 | 45.9 mi | |
| 1995 | Debris and open burning | 130 | 48.5 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 120 | 47.9 mi | |
| 1994 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 104 | 46.7 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 80 | 16.3 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 Shrewsbury. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Shrewsbury.
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.