In 2025, fire departments serving Tecumseh responded to 124 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 65% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
931 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2021. $678K cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 241 | — | |
| 2022 | 234 | -2.9% | |
| 2023 | 184 | -21.4% | |
| 2024 | 148 | -19.6% | |
| 2025 | 124 | -16.2% |
For the 16 building fires Tecumseh departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 180 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 | Outside area, other | 37 | 20.6% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 27 | 15.0% | |
| 3 | Vehicle area, other | 17 | 9.4% | |
| 4 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 17 | 9.4% | |
| 5 | Cooking area, kitchen | 12 | 6.7% | |
| 6 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 8 | 4.4% | |
| 7 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 8 | 4.4% | |
| 8 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 6 | 3.3% | |
| 9 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 6 | 3.3% | |
| 10 | Wildland, woods | 6 | 3.3% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 36 | 20.0% |
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 Tecumseh mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 120 | 66.7% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 17 | 9.4% | |
| 3 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 11 | 6.1% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 5 | 2.8% | |
| 5 | Heat source: other | 4 | 2.2% | |
| 6 | Hot ember or ash | 4 | 2.2% | |
| 7 | Lightning | 4 | 2.2% | |
| 8 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 3 | 1.7% | |
| 9 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 2 | 1.1% | |
| 10 | Flying brand, ember, spark | 2 | 1.1% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 8 | 4.4% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Tecumseh departments in 2025. These 6 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $150,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $20,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $10,000 | Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $8,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $2,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $500 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Tecumseh sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 192,824 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 26,000 | 41.8 mi | |
| 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 17,299 | 42.3 mi | |
| 2006 | Arson/incendiarism | 16,423 | 29.9 mi | |
| 2006 | Arson/incendiarism | 14,000 | 47.8 mi | |
| 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 9,600 | 31.0 mi | |
| 2005 | Debris and open burning | 9,429 | 32.3 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 8,954 | 15.3 mi | |
| 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 7,000 | 45.4 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 6,766 | 48.9 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 6,580 | 48.5 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 6,400 | 25.4 mi | |
| 2011 | Debris and open burning | 6,152 | 44.8 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 Oklahoma cities with population within ±25% of Tecumseh. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
2 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Tecumseh.
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.