In 2025, fire departments serving Wellston responded to 71 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $300K 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 75% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Sep dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
263 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $2.0M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 24 | — | |
| 2022 | 38 | — | |
| 2023 | 52 | +36.8% | |
| 2024 | 78 | +50.0% | |
| 2025 | 71 | -9.0% |
* Well below Wellston'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 Wellston departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 145 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 | 33 | 22.8% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 22 | 15.2% | |
| 3 | Wildland, woods | 16 | 11.0% | |
| 4 | Vehicle area, other | 15 | 10.3% | |
| 5 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 12 | 8.3% | |
| 6 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 9 | 6.2% | |
| 7 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 7 | 4.8% | |
| 8 | Other | 4 | 2.8% | |
| 9 | Structural area, other | 4 | 2.8% | |
| 10 | Cargo/trunk area - all vehicles | 4 | 2.8% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 19 | 13.1% |
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 Wellston mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 65 | 44.8% | |
| 2 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 15 | 10.3% | |
| 3 | Hot ember or ash | 13 | 9.0% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 10 | 6.9% | |
| 5 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 7 | 4.8% | |
| 6 | Heat source: other | 6 | 4.1% | |
| 7 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 5 | 3.4% | |
| 8 | Heat, spark from friction | 4 | 2.8% | |
| 9 | Cigarette | 3 | 2.1% | |
| 10 | Lightning | 3 | 2.1% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 14 | 9.7% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Wellston departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $300,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $175,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $150,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $75,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $15,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $1,500 | Fuel burner/boiler malfunction, fire confined | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $100 | Forest, woods or wildland fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $100 | Outside rubbish fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Wellston sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 234,485 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | Smoking | 58,501 | 39.6 mi | |
| 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 26,000 | 37.5 mi | |
| 2006 | Arson/incendiarism | 16,423 | 28.9 mi | |
| 2005 | Debris and open burning | 9,429 | 45.2 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 8,954 | 33.7 mi | |
| 2018 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 8,792 | 47.1 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 8,600 | 31.7 mi | |
| 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 8,500 | 48.2 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 6,887 | 33.4 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 6,730 | 47.4 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 6,580 | 27.7 mi | |
| 2017 | Debris and open burning | 6,478 | 48.5 mi |
Top 8 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 Wellston. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
2 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Wellston.
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.