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2025 County Report

Fires in Newton County, MO

In 2025, fire departments serving Newton County responded to 471 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $200K property loss. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as High.

22,232 residents FIPS 29145 38 cities · 7 fire depts
Total incidents
471
1,852 across 5 years
Building fires
106
69 wildland
Property loss
$1.6M
$1.4M structure · $229K 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 57% of all calls.

471
Total Incidents
Building fires 106 22.5%
Authorized controlled burning 48 10.2%
Power line down 47 10.0%
Vehicle accident, general cleanup 36 7.6%
Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire 31 6.6%
All other categories 203 43.1%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in Newton County?

Mar peaks. Nov dips.

Jan 46
Feb 36
Mar 77
Apr 55
May 32
Jun 28
Jul 35
Aug 39
Sep 34
Oct 41
Nov 24
Dec 24
03 Five-year trend

Year over year in Newton County

1,852 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 292
2022 349
2023 291
2024 449
2025 471
04 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 106 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional
41%
60
Cause undetermined
38%
55
Intentional / arson
11%
16
Equipment / heat source failure
5%
7
Under investigation
3%
4
Act of nature (lightning)
2%
4
05 The biggest fires

10 fires · $1.0M in losses

Largest single-incident property losses in Newton County during 2025. These 10 fires alone account for 74% of the county's total.

#Property lossCityTypeSeverity
1 $200,000 NEOSHO Outside equipment fire Significant
2 $150,000 NEOSHO Building fires Significant
3 $150,000 Seneca Road freight or transport vehicle fire Significant
4 $100,000 NEOSHO Fire, other Significant
5 $100,000 NEOSHO Building fires Significant
6 $100,000 NEOSHO Building fires Significant
7 $70,000 Neosho Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire Significant
8 $50,000 NEOSHO Building fires Significant
9 $50,000 Stella Building fires Significant
10 $45,000 Seneca Building fires Significant
06 How Newton County compares

Newton County vs MO vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

21.19
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Newton County
21.19
MO avg
12.53
US avg
7.15
4.77
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Newton County
4.77
MO avg
1.62
US avg
0.82
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
Newton County
0
MO avg
9.8
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in Newton County

12 cities mapped to FIPS 29145.

08 First responders

Busiest fire departments in Newton County

7 departments report from this county.

Neosho Fire Dept
Neosho
FDID 07301 137 incidents
Redings Mill Fire Prot Dist
Joplin
FDID 07307 136 incidents
Neosho Area Fire Prot Dist
Neosho
FDID 07311 92 incidents
Seneca Area Fire Prot Dist
Neosho
FDID 07302 73 incidents 19 vol
East Newton Area Fire Prot Dist
GRANBY
FDID 07310 52 incidents
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.