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2025 County Report

Fires in Barton County, MO

In 2025, fire departments serving Barton County responded to 90 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $25K property loss.

6,416 residents FIPS 29011 20 cities · 0 fire depts
Total incidents
90
578 across 5 years
Building fires
26
20 wildland
Property loss
$91K
$70K structure · $20K contents
Casualties
0 / 0
0 civ deaths · 0 civ inj · 0 FF inj
01 The mix

What kinds of fires happen here?

Building fires lead by count. Top five categories make up about 75% of all calls.

90
Total Incidents
Building fires 26 28.9%
Vehicle accident, general cleanup 16 17.8%
Grass fire 12 13.3%
Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire 7 7.8%
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) 6 6.7%
All other categories 23 25.6%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in Barton County?

Mar peaks. Nov dips.

Jan 12
Feb 12
Mar 17
Apr 8
May 7
Jun 3
Jul 7
Aug 9
Sep 5
Oct 9
Nov 0
Dec 1
03 Five-year trend

Year over year in Barton County

578 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 113
2022 164
2023 107
2024 104
2025 90
04 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 26 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional
49%
17
Cause undetermined
37%
13
Intentional / arson
6%
2
Equipment / heat source failure
3%
1
Under investigation
0%
0
Act of nature (lightning)
5%
2
05 The biggest fires

10 fires · $70K in losses

Largest single-incident property losses in Barton County during 2025. These 10 fires alone account for 99% of the county's total.

#Property lossCityTypeSeverity
1 $25,000 Lamar Building fires Significant
2 $20,000 Lamar Building fires Significant
3 $10,000 Lamar Building fires Significant
4 $6,000 Lamar Building fires Significant
5 $5,000 Lamar Building fires Significant
6 $1,500 Lamar Building fires Significant
7 $1,000 Lamar Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire Significant
8 $500 Lamar Passenger vehicle fire Significant
9 $500 Lamar Road freight or transport vehicle fire Significant
10 $500 Lamar Building fires Significant
06 How Barton County compares

Barton County vs MO vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

14.03
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Barton County
14.03
MO avg
12.53
US avg
7.15
4.05
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Barton County
4.05
MO avg
1.62
US avg
0.82
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
Barton County
0
MO avg
9.8
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in Barton County

12 cities mapped to FIPS 29011.

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.