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2025 County Report

Fires in Adair County, MO

In 2025, fire departments serving Adair County responded to 245 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $360K property loss. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as Moderate.

18,446 residents FIPS 29001 21 cities · 2 fire depts
Total incidents
245
955 across 5 years
Building fires
38
57 wildland
Property loss
$1.9M
$1.3M structure · $540K contents
Casualties
0 / 3
0 civ deaths · 1 civ inj · 2 FF inj
01 The mix

What kinds of fires happen here?

Building fires lead by count. Top five categories make up about 49% of all calls.

245
Total Incidents
Building fires 38 15.5%
Grass fire 27 11.0%
Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire 20 8.2%
Unauthorized burning 19 7.8%
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) 17 6.9%
All other categories 124 50.6%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in Adair County?

Mar peaks. Dec dips.

Jan 30
Feb 24
Mar 43
Apr 15
May 25
Jun 16
Jul 27
Aug 27
Sep 32
Oct 4
Nov 2
Dec 0
03 Five-year trend

Year over year in Adair County

955 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 228
2022 214
2023 242
2024 26
2025 245
04 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 38 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional
41%
29
Cause undetermined
14%
10
Intentional / arson
14%
10
Equipment / heat source failure
20%
14
Under investigation
7%
5
Act of nature (lightning)
4%
2
05 The biggest fires

10 fires · $1.1M in losses

Largest single-incident property losses in Adair County during 2025. These 10 fires alone account for 83% of the county's total.

#Property lossCityTypeSeverity
1 $360,000 KIRKSVILLE Building fires Major
2 $180,000 Kirksville Building fires Significant
3 $180,000 Kirksville Building fires Significant
4 $180,000 Kirksville Building fires Significant
5 $50,000 Kirksville Building fires Significant
6 $42,000 KIRKSVILLE Building fires Significant
7 $31,920 KIRKSVILLE Building fires Significant
8 $30,000 KIRKSVILLE Building fires Significant
9 $30,000 KIRKSVILLE Building fires Significant
10 $30,000 KIRKSVILLE Building fires Significant
06 How Adair County compares

Adair County vs MO vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

13.28
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Adair County
13.28
MO avg
12.53
US avg
7.15
2.06
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Adair County
2.06
MO avg
1.62
US avg
0.82
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
Adair County
0
MO avg
9.8
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in Adair County

12 cities mapped to FIPS 29001.

08 First responders

Busiest fire departments in Adair County

2 departments report from this county.

Kirksville Fire Dept
Kirksville
FDID 00101 153 incidents 24 paid
Adair Co Fire
Kirksville
FDID 00103 73 incidents
09 Historical wildfires

Largest fires recorded in MO

Top 10 fire perimeters by acres burned (state-scoped fallback while we build out per-county polygons).

#NameYearAgencyAcres
1 Minninghaw 2011 USFS 4,762
2 Mud Pond 2011 USFS 3,520
3 Willie 2020 USFS 2,472
4 23 Thorny Creek BIL RX 2023 NPS 2,223
5 Carty 2015 USFS 2,145
6 Swan Creek 2019 USFS 2,119
7 Rozell 2018 USFS 2,102
8 Devreaux 2023 USFS 2,028
9 Liberty 2012 USFS 1,623
10 Sugar 2024 USFS 1,611

About this data

County-level NFIRS aggregates for 2025, plus 5-year totals across 2021–2025. NFIRS is voluntary — about 23,000 of roughly 30,000 US fire departments report — so totals are a strong indicator, not a complete census. Wildfire risk score (0–100) and Expected Annual Loss come from FEMA's National Risk Index. Drought class is the most recent USDM classification (D0 = abnormally dry through D4 = exceptional drought). Historical fire perimeters are sourced from the NIFC InterAgency Fire Perimeter History.