In 2025, fire departments serving Watonga responded to 50 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $500K 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 58% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Nov dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
378 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $986K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 10 | — | |
| 2022 | 86 | — | |
| 2023 | 117 | +36.0% | |
| 2024 | 115 | -1.7% | |
| 2025 | 50 | -56.5% |
* Well below Watonga'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 2 building fires Watonga departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 189 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 | 50 | 26.5% | |
| 2 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 45 | 23.8% | |
| 3 | Undetermined | 18 | 9.5% | |
| 4 | Other | 12 | 6.3% | |
| 5 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 10 | 5.3% | |
| 6 | Wildland, woods | 7 | 3.7% | |
| 7 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 6 | 3.2% | |
| 8 | Vehicle area, other | 5 | 2.6% | |
| 9 | Courtyard, patio, porch, terrace | 4 | 2.1% | |
| 10 | Multiple areas | 3 | 1.6% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 29 | 15.3% |
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 Watonga mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 75 | 39.7% | |
| 2 | Hot ember or ash | 24 | 12.7% | |
| 3 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 12 | 6.3% | |
| 4 | Heat source: other | 10 | 5.3% | |
| 5 | Arcing | 10 | 5.3% | |
| 6 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 8 | 4.2% | |
| 7 | Cigarette lighter | 7 | 3.7% | |
| 8 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 6 | 3.2% | |
| 9 | Match | 6 | 3.2% | |
| 10 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 5 | 2.6% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 26 | 13.8% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Watonga departments in 2025. These 7 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $500,000 | Outside gas or vapor combustion explosion | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $4,000 | Trash or rubbish fire, contained | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $4,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $2,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $500 | Fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $100 | Grass fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $1 | Outside rubbish, trash or waste fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Watonga sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 436,920 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 286,196 | 44.6 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 52,790 | 30.9 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 41,497 | 37.3 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 11,520 | 37.8 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 6,530 | 43.1 mi | |
| 2020 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 6,042 | 31.6 mi | |
| 2006 | Firearms and explosives use | 3,000 | 33.1 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,950 | 35.8 mi | |
| 2014 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 2,657 | 32.3 mi | |
| 2018 | Equipment and vehicle use | 2,484 | 30.0 mi | |
| 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,412 | 13.5 mi | |
| 2000 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,920 | 39.7 mi |
Top 3 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 Watonga. 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.