In 2025, fire departments serving Broken Bow responded to 47 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 68% of all calls.
Feb peaks. Nov dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
178 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $1.8M cumulative property loss. 2 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 26 | — | |
| 2022 | 48 | +84.6% | |
| 2023 | 28 | -41.7% | |
| 2024 | 29 | +3.6% | |
| 2025 | 47 | +62.1% |
For the 2 building fires Broken Bow departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 63 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 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 11 | 17.5% | |
| 2 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 10 | 15.9% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 6 | 9.5% | |
| 4 | Cooking area, kitchen | 4 | 6.3% | |
| 5 | Wall surface: exterior | 4 | 6.3% | |
| 6 | Vehicle area, other | 4 | 6.3% | |
| 7 | Exterior, exposed surface | 3 | 4.8% | |
| 8 | Undetermined | 3 | 4.8% | |
| 9 | Other | 2 | 3.2% | |
| 10 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 2 | 3.2% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 14 | 22.2% |
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 Broken Bow mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 19 | 30.2% | |
| 2 | Hot ember or ash | 9 | 14.3% | |
| 3 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 6 | 9.5% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 6 | 9.5% | |
| 5 | Radiated heat from another fire | 4 | 6.3% | |
| 6 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 3 | 4.8% | |
| 7 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 3 | 4.8% | |
| 8 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 3 | 4.8% | |
| 9 | Heat source: other | 2 | 3.2% | |
| 10 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 2 | 3.2% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 6 | 9.5% |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Broken Bow sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
7 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 | 0 | |
| 10-19 | 0 | |
| 20-29 | 1 | |
| 30-39 | 2 | |
| 40-49 | 2 | |
| 50-59 | 1 | |
| 60-69 | 1 | |
| 70-79 | 0 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 46,456 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 7,000 | 45.5 mi | |
| 2016 | Debris and open burning | 5,500 | 34.0 mi | |
| 2016 | Debris and open burning | 5,000 | 36.0 mi | |
| 1995 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 3,500 | 45.9 mi | |
| 2011 | Recreation and ceremony | 2,847 | 47.6 mi | |
| 1999 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,830 | 22.4 mi | |
| 2020 | Debris and open burning | 2,000 | 48.9 mi | |
| 2016 | Debris and open burning | 2,000 | 28.5 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 1,500 | 23.1 mi | |
| 2017 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 1,440 | 47.8 mi | |
| 2012 | Natural | 1,200 | 31.4 mi | |
| 2008 | Recreation and ceremony | 1,200 | 8.8 mi |
Top 1 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
| # | ZIP | 5-yr incidents | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 68822 | 178 |
Six Nebraska cities with population within ±25% of Broken Bow. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Broken Bow.
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.