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2025 County Report

Fires in Franklin County, MO

In 2025, fire departments serving Franklin County responded to 1,246 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $1.0M property loss. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as High.

58,432 residents FIPS 29071 63 cities · 5 fire depts
Total incidents
1,246
5,679 across 5 years
Building fires
199
263 wildland
Property loss
$8.0M
$5.7M structure · $2.3M contents
Casualties
3 / 4
3 civ deaths · 2 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.

1,246
Total Incidents
Building fires 199 16.0%
Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire 139 11.2%
Power line down 122 9.8%
Authorized controlled burning 88 7.1%
Electrical wiring/equipment problem, other 63 5.1%
All other categories 635 51.0%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in Franklin County?

Mar peaks. Dec dips.

Jan 105
Feb 75
Mar 359
Apr 91
May 90
Jun 63
Jul 82
Aug 114
Sep 79
Oct 79
Nov 92
Dec 17
03 Five-year trend

Year over year in Franklin County

5,679 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 984
2022 1,069
2023 1,145
2024 1,235
2025 1,246
04 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 199 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional
54%
139
Cause undetermined
25%
64
Intentional / arson
5%
12
Equipment / heat source failure
8%
21
Under investigation
7%
17
Act of nature (lightning)
1%
4
05 The biggest fires

10 fires · $3.3M in losses

Largest single-incident property losses in Franklin County during 2025. These 10 fires alone account for 58% of the county's total.

#Property lossCityTypeSeverity
1 $1,000,000 LESLIE Building fires Major
2 $400,000 LESLIE Building fires Major
3 $300,000 ST CLAIR Building fires Major
4 $300,000 WASHINGTON Building fires Major
5 $275,000 LESLIE Building fires Major
6 $250,000 ST CLAIR Building fires Major
7 $225,000 ST CLAIR Building fires Significant
8 $193,700 ST CLAIR Building fires Significant
9 $175,000 PACIFIC Building fires Significant
10 $175,000 ST CLAIR Building fires Significant
06 How Franklin County compares

Franklin County vs MO vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

21.32
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Franklin County
21.32
MO avg
12.53
US avg
7.15
3.41
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Franklin County
3.41
MO avg
1.62
US avg
0.82
51.3
Civilian fire deaths per million
Franklin County
51.3
MO avg
9.8
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in Franklin County

12 cities mapped to FIPS 29071.

08 First responders

Busiest fire departments in Franklin County

5 departments report from this county.

Sullivan FPD
Sullivan
FDID 03611 237 incidents 11 paid 22 vol
St Clair
ST CLAIR
FDID 03602 235 incidents 16 paid 40 vol
Pacific Fire Prot Dist
Pacific
FDID 03601 212 incidents
Boles Fire Prot Dist
Labadie
FDID 03610 79 incidents 14 paid
New HavenBerger Fire Prot Dist
NEW HAVEN
FDID 03606 42 incidents 59 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.