In 2025, fire departments serving Union responded to 69 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $100K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Incomplete 2025 data. Union's departments reported 69 incidents to NFIRS for 2025, against about 120 in a typical year, so 2025 figures on this page undercount. The 2021–2025 totals are the better guide.
Building fires lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 57% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Apr dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
599 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $2.2M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 126 | — | |
| 2022 | 87 | -31.0% | |
| 2023 | 170 | +95.4% | |
| 2024 | 147 | -13.5% | |
| 2025* | 69 | — |
* Well below Union'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 14 building fires Union departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 267 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 | 103 | 38.6% | |
| 2 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 25 | 9.4% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 22 | 8.2% | |
| 4 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 21 | 7.9% | |
| 5 | Wildland, woods | 16 | 6.0% | |
| 6 | Cooking area, kitchen | 12 | 4.5% | |
| 7 | Other | 9 | 3.4% | |
| 8 | Vehicle area, other | 7 | 2.6% | |
| 9 | Wall assembly | 5 | 1.9% | |
| 10 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 4 | 1.5% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 43 | 16.1% |
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 Union mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 192 | 71.9% | |
| 2 | Hot ember or ash | 13 | 4.9% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 9 | 3.4% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 9 | 3.4% | |
| 5 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 5 | 1.9% | |
| 6 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 5 | 1.9% | |
| 7 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 4 | 1.5% | |
| 8 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 4 | 1.5% | |
| 9 | Heat source: other | 3 | 1.1% | |
| 10 | Fireworks | 3 | 1.1% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 20 | 7.5% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Union departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 99% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $100,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $75,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $30,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $10,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $10,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $10,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $5,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Union sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 11,548 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 | 47.4 mi | |
| 2004 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,026 | 27.6 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 800 | 24.8 mi | |
| 1998 | Arson/incendiarism | 740 | 46.8 mi | |
| 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 685 | 33.6 mi | |
| 1997 | Misuse of fire by a minor | 522 | 34.5 mi | |
| 1992 | Debris and open burning | 517 | 29.0 mi | |
| 2004 | Debris and open burning | 493 | 47.6 mi | |
| 1998 | Arson/incendiarism | 459 | 48.3 mi | |
| 2008 | Arson/incendiarism | 414 | 49.1 mi | |
| 2005 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 387 | 33.2 mi | |
| 2015 | Debris and open burning | 381 | 48.6 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 Union. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
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.