In 2025, fire departments serving Burden responded to 15 fire and hazmat incidents . Here's the full picture.
Incomplete 2025 data. Burden's departments reported 15 incidents to NFIRS for 2025, against about 33 in a typical year, so 2025 figures on this page undercount. The 2021–2025 totals are the better guide.
Grass fire lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 94% of all calls.
Feb peaks. May dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
167 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $214K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 50 | — | |
| 2022 | 58 | +16.0% | |
| 2023* | 10 | — | |
| 2024 | 34 | — | |
| 2025* | 15 | — |
* Well below Burden'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 1 building fires Burden departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 49 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 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 21 | 42.9% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 8 | 16.3% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 5 | 10.2% | |
| 4 | Undetermined | 3 | 6.1% | |
| 5 | Egress/exit, other | 1 | 2.0% | |
| 6 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 1 | 2.0% | |
| 7 | Bathroom, checkroom, lavatory, locker room | 1 | 2.0% | |
| 8 | Storage area, other | 1 | 2.0% | |
| 9 | Storage room, area, tank, or bin | 1 | 2.0% | |
| 10 | Equipment or service area, other | 1 | 2.0% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 6 | 12.2% |
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 Burden mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 10 | 20.4% | |
| 2 | Radiated heat from another fire | 6 | 12.2% | |
| 3 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 5 | 10.2% | |
| 4 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 4 | 8.2% | |
| 5 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 3 | 6.1% | |
| 6 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 3 | 6.1% | |
| 7 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 3 | 6.1% | |
| 8 | Conducted heat from another fire | 3 | 6.1% | |
| 9 | Heat source: other | 2 | 4.1% | |
| 10 | Arcing | 2 | 4.1% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 8 | 16.3% |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Burden sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 187,511 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 25,650 | 11.0 mi | |
| 2018 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 20,307 | 38.4 mi | |
| 1996 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 12,000 | 32.9 mi | |
| 1996 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 12,000 | 42.0 mi | |
| 2002 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 12,000 | 47.6 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 10,700 | 37.7 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 9,077 | 31.3 mi | |
| 2002 | Debris and open burning | 8,000 | 44.5 mi | |
| 2015 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 6,400 | 25.6 mi | |
| 2008 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 6,325 | 47.5 mi | |
| 2002 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 6,000 | 43.0 mi | |
| 2004 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 5,500 | 46.0 mi |
Top 2 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 Burden. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Burden.
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.