In 2025, fire departments serving Butler County responded to 328 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $31K property loss.
Unauthorized burning lead by count. Top five categories make up about 69% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Dec dips.
2,269 incidents from 2021 through 2025.
| Year | Incidents | |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 423 | |
| 2022 | 493 | |
| 2023 | 431 | |
| 2024 | 594 | |
| 2025 | 328 |
For the 45 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.
Largest single-incident property losses in Butler County during 2025. These 10 fires alone account for 99% of the county's total.
| # | Property loss | City | Type | Severity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $31,210 | Poplar Bluff | Building fires | Significant |
| 2 | $30,000 | Poplar Bluff | Building fires | Significant |
| 3 | $20,000 | Poplar Bluff | Building fires | Significant |
| 4 | $20,000 | Poplar Bluff | Building fires | Significant |
| 5 | $15,000 | POPLAR BLUFF | Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other | Significant |
| 6 | $5,000 | POPLAR BLUFF | Building fires | Significant |
| 7 | $5,000 | POPLAR BLUFF | Building fires | Significant |
| 8 | $3,000 | Poplar Bluff | Building fires | Significant |
| 9 | $3,000 | POPLAR BLUFF | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant |
| 10 | $2,000 | POPLAR BLUFF | Building fires | Significant |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.
12 cities mapped to FIPS 29023.
| City | Population | |
|---|---|---|
| Poplar Bluff | 16,313 | View › |
| Qulin | 722 | View › |
| Fisk | 508 | View › |
| Neelyville | 297 | View › |
| Broseley | 55 | View › |
| Shady Dell | 0 | View › |
| Cedar Valley | 0 | View › |
| Milltown | 0 | View › |
| Barron | 0 | View › |
| Ash Hill | 0 | View › |
| Wilby | 0 | View › |
| Oglesville | 0 | View › |
1 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.