In 2025, fire departments serving Bel Aire responded to 35 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $20K 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 66% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Jan dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
169 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $500K cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 0 | — | |
| 2022 | 58 | — | |
| 2023 | 43 | -25.9% | |
| 2024 | 33 | -23.3% | |
| 2025 | 35 | +6.1% |
* Well below Bel Aire's usual volume. That almost always means one or more departments didn't submit a full year to NFIRS, not that fires dropped, so no year-over-year change is shown for it.
For the 3 building fires Bel Aire departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 37 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 | Outside area, other | 9 | 24.3% | |
| 2 | Cooking area, kitchen | 6 | 16.2% | |
| 3 | Undetermined | 4 | 10.8% | |
| 4 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 3 | 8.1% | |
| 5 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 3 | 8.1% | |
| 6 | Other | 2 | 5.4% | |
| 7 | Egress/exit, other | 1 | 2.7% | |
| 8 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 1 | 2.7% | |
| 9 | Bathroom, checkroom, lavatory, locker room | 1 | 2.7% | |
| 10 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 1 | 2.7% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 6 | 16.2% |
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 Bel Aire mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 12 | 32.4% | |
| 2 | Heat source: other | 7 | 18.9% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 2 | 5.4% | |
| 4 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 2 | 5.4% | |
| 5 | Arcing | 2 | 5.4% | |
| 6 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 2 | 5.4% | |
| 7 | Hot ember or ash | 2 | 5.4% | |
| 8 | Fireworks | 2 | 5.4% | |
| 9 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 2 | 5.4% | |
| 10 | Cigarette | 1 | 2.7% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 3 | 8.1% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Bel Aire departments in 2025. These 6 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $20,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $7,000 | Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $400 | Cooking fire, confined to container | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $300 | Outside equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $200 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $50 | Cooking fire, confined to container | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Bel Aire sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 178,781 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 30,000 | 44.3 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 25,650 | 47.5 mi | |
| 1994 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 16,000 | 49.8 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 14,000 | 31.6 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 10,700 | 17.8 mi | |
| 1996 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 10,000 | 45.9 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 8,800 | 30.8 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 6,400 | 39.6 mi | |
| 2002 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 6,000 | 21.8 mi | |
| 2002 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 5,500 | 26.5 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 4,945 | 32.1 mi | |
| 1996 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 4,000 | 26.2 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 Bel Aire. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
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.