In 2025, fire departments serving Wilburton responded to 56 fire and hazmat incidents . Here's the full picture.
Grass fire lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 88% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Jan dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
323 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $245K cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 67 | — | |
| 2022 | 94 | +40.3% | |
| 2023 | 44 | -53.2% | |
| 2024 | 62 | +40.9% | |
| 2025 | 56 | -9.7% |
For the 11 building fires Wilburton departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 207 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 | 64 | 30.9% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 33 | 15.9% | |
| 3 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 29 | 14.0% | |
| 4 | Other | 14 | 6.8% | |
| 5 | Cooking area, kitchen | 10 | 4.8% | |
| 6 | Function area, other | 9 | 4.3% | |
| 7 | Vehicle area, other | 9 | 4.3% | |
| 8 | Storage area, other | 5 | 2.4% | |
| 9 | Attic: vacant, crawl space above top story, cupola | 5 | 2.4% | |
| 10 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 4 | 1.9% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 25 | 12.1% |
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 Wilburton mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 127 | 61.4% | |
| 2 | Heat source: other | 27 | 13.0% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 12 | 5.8% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 8 | 3.9% | |
| 5 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 3 | 1.4% | |
| 6 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 3 | 1.4% | |
| 7 | Hot ember or ash | 3 | 1.4% | |
| 8 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 3 | 1.4% | |
| 9 | Match | 3 | 1.4% | |
| 10 | Cigarette lighter | 3 | 1.4% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 15 | 7.2% |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Wilburton sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 134,122 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 | 10,880 | 35.0 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 10,436 | 9.5 mi | |
| 2011 | Arson/incendiarism | 9,500 | 24.8 mi | |
| 2005 | Arson/incendiarism | 7,680 | 43.5 mi | |
| 2006 | Arson/incendiarism | 6,750 | 21.1 mi | |
| 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 6,400 | 45.9 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 5,540 | 9.9 mi | |
| 2017 | Arson/incendiarism | 5,240 | 15.9 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 5,200 | 20.0 mi | |
| 2005 | Arson/incendiarism | 5,121 | 42.6 mi | |
| 1996 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 5,120 | 31.6 mi | |
| 2006 | Equipment and vehicle use | 4,900 | 41.6 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 Oklahoma cities with population within ±25% of Wilburton. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
5 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Wilburton.
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.