In 2025, fire departments serving Wood River responded to 16 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 94% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Jun dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
53 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $3.4M cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 1 | — | |
| 2022 | 12 | — | |
| 2023 | 12 | +0.0% | |
| 2024 | 12 | +0.0% | |
| 2025 | 16 | +33.3% |
* Well below Wood River'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 4 building fires Wood River departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 8 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 | 2 | 25.0% | |
| 2 | Storage room, area, tank, or bin | 1 | 12.5% | |
| 3 | Dumbwaiter or elavator shaft | 1 | 12.5% | |
| 4 | Ceiling & floor assembly, crawl space b/t stories | 1 | 12.5% | |
| 5 | Wall surface: exterior | 1 | 12.5% | |
| 6 | Cargo/trunk area - all vehicles | 1 | 12.5% | |
| 7 | Multiple areas | 1 | 12.5% |
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 Wood River mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Heat source: other | 2 | 25.0% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 2 | 25.0% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 1 | 12.5% | |
| 4 | Explosive, fireworks, other | 1 | 12.5% | |
| 5 | Incendiary device | 1 | 12.5% | |
| 6 | Cigarette lighter | 1 | 12.5% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Wood River departments in 2025. These 6 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $500,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $150,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $75,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $60,000 | Fires in structures other than in a building | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $1,000 | Grass fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $100 | Grass fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Wood River sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 23,098 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Debris and open burning | 5,500 | 47.7 mi | |
| 2016 | Debris and open burning | 5,000 | 36.8 mi | |
| 2012 | Debris and open burning | 3,500 | 46.3 mi | |
| 2020 | Debris and open burning | 1,520 | 22.1 mi | |
| 2010 | Recreation and ceremony | 1,000 | 32.2 mi | |
| 2013 | Debris and open burning | 1,000 | 36.3 mi | |
| 2009 | Debris and open burning | 640 | 23.1 mi | |
| 2010 | Debris and open burning | 600 | 33.8 mi | |
| 2015 | Equipment and vehicle use | 500 | 30.7 mi | |
| 2018 | Debris and open burning | 500 | 44.9 mi | |
| 2017 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 408 | 41.6 mi | |
| 1996 | Debris and open burning | 350 | 49.9 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 Nebraska cities with population within ±25% of Wood River. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Wood River.
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.