Home› Counties› MO› Lawrence County
2025 County Report

Fires in Lawrence County, MO

In 2025, fire departments serving Lawrence County responded to 367 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $250K property loss. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as Moderate.

17,475 residents FIPS 29109 35 cities · 4 fire depts
Total incidents
367
1,535 across 5 years
Building fires
51
71 wildland
Property loss
$1.6M
$1.1M structure · $493K contents
Casualties
0 / 0
0 civ deaths · 0 civ inj · 0 FF inj
01 The mix

What kinds of fires happen here?

Building fires lead by count. Top five categories make up about 47% of all calls.

367
Total Incidents
Building fires 51 13.9%
Grass fire 31 8.4%
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) 31 8.4%
Aircraft standby 31 8.4%
Authorized controlled burning 30 8.2%
All other categories 193 52.6%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in Lawrence County?

Mar peaks. Dec dips.

Jan 38
Feb 37
Mar 39
Apr 38
May 22
Jun 28
Jul 32
Aug 34
Sep 33
Oct 23
Nov 30
Dec 13
03 Five-year trend

Year over year in Lawrence County

1,535 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 172
2022 309
2023 328
2024 359
2025 367
04 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 51 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional
52%
38
Cause undetermined
25%
18
Intentional / arson
4%
3
Equipment / heat source failure
14%
10
Under investigation
5%
4
Act of nature (lightning)
0%
0
05 The biggest fires

10 fires · $811K in losses

Largest single-incident property losses in Lawrence County during 2025. These 10 fires alone account for 77% of the county's total.

#Property lossCityTypeSeverity
1 $250,000 Marionville Building fires Major
2 $100,000 Aurora Building fires Significant
3 $100,000 Mount Vernon Road freight or transport vehicle fire Significant
4 $75,500 Mount Vernon Passenger vehicle fire Significant
5 $75,000 Mount Vernon Building fires Significant
6 $60,000 Halltown Road freight or transport vehicle fire Significant
7 $50,000 Mount Vernon Passenger vehicle fire Significant
8 $40,000 Aurora Building fires Significant
9 $30,000 Mount Vernon Building fires Significant
10 $30,000 HOBERG Building fires Significant
06 How Lawrence County compares

Lawrence County vs MO vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

21
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Lawrence County
21
MO avg
12.53
US avg
7.15
2.92
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Lawrence County
2.92
MO avg
1.62
US avg
0.82
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
Lawrence County
0
MO avg
9.8
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in Lawrence County

12 cities mapped to FIPS 29109.

08 First responders

Busiest fire departments in Lawrence County

4 departments report from this county.

Mt Vernon Fire Prot Dist
Mt Vernon
FDID 05513 112 incidents 22 vol
Marionville Fire Rescue
Marionville
FDID 05504 44 incidents 15 vol
Halltown Fire Prot Dist
Halltown
FDID 05515 40 incidents 18 vol
Miller Rural Fire Prot Dist
Miller
FDID 05510 0 incidents 13 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.