Home› Counties› MO› Callaway County
2025 County Report

Fires in Callaway County, MO

In 2025, fire departments serving Callaway County responded to 341 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $250K property loss. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as High.

20,199 residents FIPS 29027 34 cities · 6 fire depts
Total incidents
341
2,269 across 5 years
Building fires
47
56 wildland
Property loss
$2.0M
$1.4M structure · $522K contents
Casualties
0 / 2
0 civ deaths · 1 civ inj · 1 FF inj
01 The mix

What kinds of fires happen here?

Building fires lead by count. Top five categories make up about 50% of all calls.

341
Total Incidents
Building fires 47 13.8%
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) 46 13.5%
Power line down 35 10.3%
Authorized controlled burning 23 6.7%
Natural vegetation fire, other 20 5.9%
All other categories 170 49.9%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in Callaway County?

Mar peaks. Dec dips.

Jan 41
Feb 25
Mar 62
Apr 30
May 22
Jun 32
Jul 30
Aug 27
Sep 27
Oct 28
Nov 16
Dec 1
03 Five-year trend

Year over year in Callaway County

2,269 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 441
2022 543
2023 485
2024 459
2025 341
04 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 47 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional
41%
35
Cause undetermined
28%
24
Intentional / arson
19%
16
Equipment / heat source failure
7%
6
Under investigation
6%
5
Act of nature (lightning)
-1%
0
05 The biggest fires

10 fires · $1.1M in losses

Largest single-incident property losses in Callaway County during 2025. These 10 fires alone account for 80% of the county's total.

#Property lossCityTypeSeverity
1 $250,000 Fulton Building fires Major
2 $200,000 Steedman Building fires Significant
3 $125,000 Fulton Building fires Significant
4 $100,000 Fulton Building fires Significant
5 $100,000 Fulton Building fires Significant
6 $80,000 Fulton Building fires Significant
7 $80,000 Steedman Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire Significant
8 $75,000 Fulton Building fires Significant
9 $75,000 HOLTS SUMMIT Building fires Significant
10 $60,000 HOLTS SUMMIT Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire Significant
06 How Callaway County compares

Callaway County vs MO vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

16.88
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Callaway County
16.88
MO avg
12.53
US avg
7.15
2.33
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Callaway County
2.33
MO avg
1.62
US avg
0.82
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
Callaway County
0
MO avg
9.8
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in Callaway County

12 cities mapped to FIPS 29027.

08 First responders

Busiest fire departments in Callaway County

6 departments report from this county.

Fulton Fire Dept
Fulton
FDID 01402 172 incidents 24 paid 4 vol
Holts Summit Fire Prot Dist
Holts Summit
FDID 01407 74 incidents 38 vol
Central Callaway Fire Prot Dist
Fulton
FDID 01406 63 incidents
New Bloomfield Fire Prot Dist
New Bloomfield
FDID 01404 8 incidents 15 vol
Auxvasse Fire Dept
Auxvasse
FDID 01405 1 incidents 10 vol
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.