Home› Counties› MO› Phelps County
2025 County Report

Fires in Phelps County, MO

In 2025, fire departments serving Phelps County responded to 309 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $25K property loss. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as Moderate.

25,090 residents FIPS 29161 27 cities · 4 fire depts
Total incidents
309
1,314 across 5 years
Building fires
33
30 wildland
Property loss
$125K
$67K structure · $58K contents
Casualties
0 / 0
0 civ deaths · 0 civ inj · 0 FF inj
01 The mix

What kinds of fires happen here?

Power line down lead by count. Top five categories make up about 51% of all calls.

309
Total Incidents
Power line down 40 12.9%
Building fires 33 10.7%
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) 33 10.7%
Unauthorized burning 33 10.7%
Passenger vehicle fire 17 5.5%
All other categories 153 49.5%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in Phelps County?

Mar peaks. Dec dips.

Jan 26
Feb 19
Mar 82
Apr 33
May 32
Jun 17
Jul 23
Aug 13
Sep 18
Oct 19
Nov 21
Dec 6
03 Five-year trend

Year over year in Phelps County

1,314 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 140
2022 281
2023 224
2024 360
2025 309
04 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 33 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional
62%
50
Cause undetermined
12%
10
Intentional / arson
12%
10
Equipment / heat source failure
7%
6
Under investigation
5%
4
Act of nature (lightning)
2%
1
05 The biggest fires

10 fires · $67K in losses

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

#Property lossCityTypeSeverity
1 $25,000 ROLLA Building fires Significant
2 $10,000 Rolla Passenger vehicle fire Significant
3 $10,000 ROLLA Building fires Significant
4 $7,500 Rolla Passenger vehicle fire Significant
5 $5,000 Rolla Passenger vehicle fire Significant
6 $3,500 ROLLA Passenger vehicle fire Significant
7 $2,500 ROLLA Passenger vehicle fire Significant
8 $2,000 ROLLA Building fires Significant
9 $1,000 ROLLA Building fires Significant
10 $500 ROLLA Passenger vehicle fire Significant
06 How Phelps County compares

Phelps County vs MO vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

12.32
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Phelps County
12.32
MO avg
12.53
US avg
7.15
1.32
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Phelps County
1.32
MO avg
1.62
US avg
0.82
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
Phelps County
0
MO avg
9.8
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in Phelps County

12 cities mapped to FIPS 29161.

08 First responders

Busiest fire departments in Phelps County

4 departments report from this county.

Rolla Rural Fire Prot Dist
ROLLA
FDID 08102 0 incidents
Doolittle Rural Fire Prot Dist
Doolittle
FDID 08104 0 incidents 25 vol
Duke Fire Prot Dist
—
FDID 08105 0 incidents
Edgar Springs Rural Fire Prot Dist
EDGAR SPRINGS
FDID 08106 0 incidents 16 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.