Home› Counties› MO› Lewis County
2025 County Report

Fires in Lewis County, MO

In 2025, fire departments serving Lewis County responded to 92 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $500K property loss.

5,514 residents FIPS 29111 16 cities · 4 fire depts
Total incidents
92
420 across 5 years
Building fires
18
38 wildland
Property loss
$998K
$844K structure · $154K 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 65% of all calls.

92
Total Incidents
Building fires 18 19.6%
Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire 18 19.6%
Grass fire 13 14.1%
Power line down 6 6.5%
Passenger vehicle fire 5 5.4%
All other categories 32 34.8%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in Lewis County?

Mar peaks. Oct dips.

Jan 13
Feb 8
Mar 25
Apr 7
May 5
Jun 2
Jul 19
Aug 6
Sep 4
Oct 0
Nov 1
Dec 2
03 Five-year trend

Year over year in Lewis County

420 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 71
2022 67
2023 92
2024 98
2025 92
04 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 18 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional
48%
22
Cause undetermined
24%
11
Intentional / arson
4%
2
Equipment / heat source failure
15%
7
Under investigation
0%
0
Act of nature (lightning)
9%
3
05 The biggest fires

10 fires · $844K in losses

Largest single-incident property losses in Lewis County during 2025. These 10 fires alone account for 100% of the county's total.

#Property lossCityTypeSeverity
1 $500,000 Williamstown Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire Major
2 $149,000 Canton Building fires Significant
3 $70,000 Canton Building fires Significant
4 $50,000 Lewistown Building fires Significant
5 $40,000 canton Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire Significant
6 $10,000 Canton Grass fire Significant
7 $10,000 Canton Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire Significant
8 $5,000 Monticello Building fires Significant
9 $5,000 La Grange Passenger vehicle fire Significant
10 $5,000 Canton Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire Significant
06 How Lewis County compares

Lewis County vs MO vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

16.68
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Lewis County
16.68
MO avg
12.53
US avg
7.15
3.26
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Lewis County
3.26
MO avg
1.62
US avg
0.82
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
Lewis County
0
MO avg
9.8
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in Lewis County

12 cities mapped to FIPS 29111.

08 First responders

Busiest fire departments in Lewis County

4 departments report from this county.

LaGrange Fire Dept
—
FDID 05607 32 incidents
Western Lewis Co Fire Prot Dist
LaBelle
FDID 05601 29 incidents 41 vol
R4 Fire Prot Dist
—
FDID 05603 0 incidents
Monticello Vol Fire Dept
Monticello
FDID 05606 0 incidents 12 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.