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2025 County Report

Fires in Jefferson County, MO

In 2025, fire departments serving Jefferson County responded to 2,508 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $408K property loss. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as Moderate.

95,506 residents FIPS 29099 73 cities · 7 fire depts
Total incidents
2,508
10,343 across 5 years
Building fires
389
353 wildland
Property loss
$10.5M
$5.5M structure · $5.0M contents
Casualties
3 / 40
3 civ deaths · 3 civ inj · 37 FF inj
01 The mix

What kinds of fires happen here?

Building fires lead by count. Top five categories make up about 52% of all calls.

2,508
Total Incidents
Building fires 389 15.5%
Power line down 346 13.8%
Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire 219 8.7%
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) 177 7.1%
Authorized controlled burning 165 6.6%
All other categories 1,212 48.3%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in Jefferson County?

Mar peaks. Dec dips.

Jan 170
Feb 172
Mar 632
Apr 182
May 282
Jun 173
Jul 266
Aug 153
Sep 217
Oct 116
Nov 119
Dec 26
03 Five-year trend

Year over year in Jefferson County

10,343 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 1,937
2022 1,988
2023 2,044
2024 1,866
2025 2,508
04 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 389 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional
41%
190
Cause undetermined
32%
151
Intentional / arson
12%
56
Equipment / heat source failure
5%
22
Under investigation
6%
26
Act of nature (lightning)
4%
15
05 The biggest fires

10 fires · $2.1M in losses

Largest single-incident property losses in Jefferson County during 2025. These 10 fires alone account for 38% of the county's total.

#Property lossCityTypeSeverity
1 $408,211 CRYSTAL CITY Building fires Major
2 $239,319 High Ridge Building fires Significant
3 $200,000 JEFFERSON COUNTY Building fires Significant
4 $200,000 JEFFERSON COUNTY Building fires Significant
5 $200,000 Antonia Building fires Significant
6 $199,298 High Ridge Building fires Significant
7 $175,000 High Ridge Building fires Significant
8 $174,000 Pevely Building fires Significant
9 $168,000 De Soto Building fires Significant
10 $150,000 De Soto Building fires Significant
06 How Jefferson County compares

Jefferson County vs MO vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

26.26
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Jefferson County
26.26
MO avg
12.53
US avg
7.15
4.07
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Jefferson County
4.07
MO avg
1.62
US avg
0.82
31.4
Civilian fire deaths per million
Jefferson County
31.4
MO avg
9.8
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in Jefferson County

12 cities mapped to FIPS 29099.

08 First responders

Busiest fire departments in Jefferson County

7 departments report from this county.

Rock Comm Fire Prot Dist
Arnold
FDID 05003 366 incidents
High Ridge Fire Prot Dist
High Ridge
FDID 05014 354 incidents 33 paid 20 vol
De Soto Rural Fire Prot Dist
DeSoto
FDID 05011 353 incidents 9 paid
City of De Soto Fire Dept
DeSoto
FDID 05010 122 incidents
Jefferson R7 Fire Prot Dist
Festus
FDID 05016 121 incidents 10 paid
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.