In 2025, fire departments serving Atchison responded to 120 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $50K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 58% of all calls.
Jan peaks. Nov dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
807 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $2.7M cumulative property loss. 2 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 159 | — | |
| 2022 | 197 | +23.9% | |
| 2023 | 169 | -14.2% | |
| 2024 | 162 | -4.1% | |
| 2025 | 120 | -25.9% |
For the 12 building fires Atchison departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 230 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 | 37 | 16.1% | |
| 2 | Cooking area, kitchen | 35 | 15.2% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 28 | 12.2% | |
| 4 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 13 | 5.7% | |
| 5 | Courtyard, patio, porch, terrace | 12 | 5.2% | |
| 6 | Wildland, woods | 10 | 4.3% | |
| 7 | Other | 7 | 3.0% | |
| 8 | Outside area, other | 7 | 3.0% | |
| 9 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 6 | 2.6% | |
| 10 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 5 | 2.2% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 70 | 30.4% |
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 Atchison mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 92 | 40.0% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 37 | 16.1% | |
| 3 | Hot ember or ash | 24 | 10.4% | |
| 4 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 13 | 5.7% | |
| 5 | Arcing | 8 | 3.5% | |
| 6 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 8 | 3.5% | |
| 7 | Cigarette lighter | 8 | 3.5% | |
| 8 | Heat source: other | 5 | 2.2% | |
| 9 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 5 | 2.2% | |
| 10 | Heat, spark from friction | 5 | 2.2% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 25 | 10.9% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Atchison departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 90% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $38,360 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $35,010 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $20,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $10,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $10,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $5,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $5,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Atchison sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
11 fire-related casualties recorded in NFIRS Module 11 across the 2021–2025 window. Age, gender, and severity are coarse-binned — no individual identification possible.
| Age | Count | |
|---|---|---|
| 0-9 | 1 | |
| 10-19 | 0 | |
| 20-29 | 4 | |
| 30-39 | 1 | |
| 40-49 | 0 | |
| 50-59 | 2 | |
| 60-69 | 2 | |
| 70-79 | 1 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 15,901 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Debris and open burning | 1,700 | 44.2 mi | |
| 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,020 | 47.4 mi | |
| 2005 | Arson/incendiarism | 940 | 32.6 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 900 | 17.2 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 800 | 36.0 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 800 | 20.9 mi | |
| 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 800 | 33.8 mi | |
| 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 750 | 22.3 mi | |
| 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 700 | 47.0 mi | |
| 2018 | Arson/incendiarism | 667 | 7.1 mi | |
| 2012 | Debris and open burning | 600 | 47.2 mi | |
| 1995 | Debris and open burning | 600 | 36.5 mi |
Top 4 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 Atchison. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
3 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Atchison.
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.