In 2025, fire departments serving Buchanan County responded to 879 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $500K property loss. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as Moderate.
Unauthorized burning lead by count. Top five categories make up about 63% of all calls.
Sep peaks. Apr dips.
4,973 incidents from 2021 through 2025.
| Year | Incidents | |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 624 | |
| 2022 | 1,050 | |
| 2023 | 1,111 | |
| 2024 | 1,309 | |
| 2025 | 879 |
For the 60 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.
Largest single-incident property losses in Buchanan County during 2025. These 10 fires alone account for 65% of the county's total.
| # | Property loss | City | Type | Severity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $500,000 | ST JOSEPH | Building fires | Major |
| 2 | $350,000 | ST JOSEPH | Building fires | Major |
| 3 | $300,000 | ST JOSEPH | Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other | Major |
| 4 | $200,000 | ST JOSEPH | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant |
| 5 | $150,000 | ST JOSEPH | Building or structure weakened or collapsed | Significant |
| 6 | $125,000 | ST JOSEPH | Building fires | Significant |
| 7 | $100,000 | ST JOSEPH | Building fires | Significant |
| 8 | $100,000 | ST JOSEPH | Building fires | Significant |
| 9 | $95,000 | ST JOSEPH | Building fires | Significant |
| 10 | $80,000 | ST JOSEPH | Building fires | Significant |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.
12 cities mapped to FIPS 29021.
2 departments report from this county.
Top 10 fire perimeters by acres burned (state-scoped fallback while we build out per-county polygons).
| # | Name | Year | Agency | Acres |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 |
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.