In 2025, fire departments serving Ashland responded to 15 fire and hazmat incidents . Here's the full picture.
Grass fire lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 100% of all calls.
Jul peaks. Apr dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
99 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $100 cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 15 | — | |
| 2022 | 28 | +86.7% | |
| 2023 | 16 | -42.9% | |
| 2024 | 25 | +56.2% | |
| 2025 | 15 | -40.0% |
For the 0 building fires Ashland departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 11 building fires investigators classified across 2021–2025. The room or location where ignition occurred — kitchens, bedrooms, exterior, vehicle areas — tells you where to focus prevention.
| # | Area of origin | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 5 | 45.5% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 3 | 27.3% | |
| 3 | Conduit, pipe, utility, or ventilation shaft | 1 | 9.1% | |
| 4 | Exterior, exposed surface | 1 | 9.1% | |
| 5 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 1 | 9.1% |
NFIRS Heat Source (HEAT_SOURC) — the physical thing that started it. Spark or ember from operating equipment, an open flame, smoking materials, or hot embers from a fireplace are the leading culprits nationwide. Here's the Ashland mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 5 | 45.5% | |
| 2 | Heat, spark from friction | 2 | 18.2% | |
| 3 | Chemical, natural heat source, other | 2 | 18.2% | |
| 4 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 9.1% | |
| 5 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 1 | 9.1% |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Ashland sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 1,492,654 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 662,700 | 36.2 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 367,740 | 43.3 mi | |
| 1996 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 70,000 | 46.8 mi | |
| 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 69,396 | 33.2 mi | |
| 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 62,481 | 48.8 mi | |
| 1996 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 55,000 | 32.2 mi | |
| 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 44,234 | 41.2 mi | |
| 2017 | Debris and open burning | 37,000 | 19.7 mi | |
| 1994 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 30,000 | 43.4 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 18,000 | 20.3 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 9,700 | 36.3 mi | |
| 1994 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 7,000 | 22.8 mi |
Top 3 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
Six Kansas cities with population within ±25% of Ashland. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Ashland.
A 30-minute weekend can cut your home's exposure substantially. These four checklists are a good starting point.
Numbers reflect incidents reported by participating fire departments to the National Fire Incident Reporting System (NFIRS) Public Data Release for calendar year 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. Per-capita comparisons use 2023 ACS population estimates. Wildland fire data complements NFIRS with NIFC and USFS perimeters. Active-fire counts come from a dated NIFC snapshot, not a live feed.