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2025 County Report

Fires in Ray County, MO

In 2025, fire departments serving Ray County responded to 18 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $50K property loss. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as Moderate.

10,148 residents FIPS 29177 27 cities · 4 fire depts
Total incidents
18
133 across 5 years
Building fires
6
8 wildland
Property loss
$75K
$55K structure · $20K 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 89% of all calls.

18
Total Incidents
Building fires 6 33.3%
Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire 5 27.8%
Grass fire 3 16.7%
Fire in mobile home used as fixed residence 1 5.6%
Outside rubbish, trash or waste fire 1 5.6%
All other categories 2 11.1%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in Ray County?

Feb peaks. Jun dips.

Jan 1
Feb 7
Mar 6
Apr 1
May 2
Jun 0
Jul 0
Aug 0
Sep 0
Oct 0
Nov 1
Dec 0
03 Five-year trend

Year over year in Ray County

133 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 33
2022 51
2023 14
2024 17
2025 18
04 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 6 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional
40%
2
Cause undetermined
0%
0
Intentional / arson
20%
1
Equipment / heat source failure
0%
0
Under investigation
40%
2
Act of nature (lightning)
0%
0
05 The biggest fires

2 fires · $55K in losses

Largest single-incident property losses in Ray County during 2025. These 2 fires alone account for 100% of the county's total.

#Property lossCityTypeSeverity
1 $50,000 Richmond Building fires Significant
2 $5,000 Richmond Building fires Significant
06 How Ray County compares

Ray County vs MO vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

1.77
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Ray County
1.77
MO avg
12.53
US avg
7.15
0.59
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Ray County
0.59
MO avg
1.62
US avg
0.82
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
Ray County
0
MO avg
9.8
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in Ray County

12 cities mapped to FIPS 29177.

08 First responders

Busiest fire departments in Ray County

4 departments report from this county.

Lawson Comm Fire Rescue Prot Dist
Lawson
FDID 08903 74 incidents 51 vol
Wood Heights Fire Prot Dist
Wood Heights
FDID 08902 0 incidents 14 vol
Hardin Fire Prot Dist
Hardin
FDID 08905 0 incidents 20 vol
Orrick Fire Prot Dist
Orrick
FDID 08906 0 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.