In 2025, fire departments serving Washburn responded to 12 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $2K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Building fires lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 92% of all calls.
Feb peaks. Mar dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
31 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $694K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 1 | — | |
| 2022 | 4 | — | |
| 2023* | 0 | — | |
| 2024 | 14 | — | |
| 2025 | 12 | -14.3% |
* Well below Washburn'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 6 building fires Washburn departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 6 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 | Wildland, woods | 2 | 33.3% | |
| 2 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 1 | 16.7% | |
| 3 | Wall surface: exterior | 1 | 16.7% | |
| 4 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 1 | 16.7% | |
| 5 | Undetermined | 1 | 16.7% |
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 Washburn mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 5 | 83.3% | |
| 2 | Hot ember or ash | 1 | 16.7% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Washburn departments in 2025. These 1 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $2,000 | Fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Washburn sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 19,495 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 | 2,580 | 42.2 mi | |
| 2001 | Debris and open burning | 1,300 | 41.3 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 994 | 32.6 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 903 | 43.7 mi | |
| 2013 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 876 | 44.2 mi | |
| 2011 | Arson/incendiarism | 875 | 26.3 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 850 | 48.7 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 843 | 41.8 mi | |
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 800 | 46.2 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 774 | 46.4 mi | |
| 1992 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 750 | 48.4 mi | |
| 1996 | Arson/incendiarism | 706 | 9.4 mi |
Top 2 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 Washburn. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Washburn.
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.