In 2025, fire departments serving Chapman responded to 19 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $25K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Outside rubbish, trash or waste fire lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 63% of all calls.
Apr peaks. Aug dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
94 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $797K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 8 | — | |
| 2022 | 24 | — | |
| 2023 | 20 | -16.7% | |
| 2024 | 23 | +15.0% | |
| 2025 | 19 | -17.4% |
* Well below Chapman'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 2 building fires Chapman departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 39 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 | 11 | 28.2% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 10 | 25.6% | |
| 3 | Other | 4 | 10.3% | |
| 4 | Outside area, other | 3 | 7.7% | |
| 5 | Undetermined | 3 | 7.7% | |
| 6 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 1 | 2.6% | |
| 7 | Storage area, other | 1 | 2.6% | |
| 8 | Storage room, area, tank, or bin | 1 | 2.6% | |
| 9 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 1 | 2.6% | |
| 10 | Substructure area or space, crawl space | 1 | 2.6% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 3 | 7.7% |
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 Chapman mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 13 | 33.3% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 6 | 15.4% | |
| 3 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 4 | 10.3% | |
| 4 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 4 | 10.3% | |
| 5 | Heat source: other | 2 | 5.1% | |
| 6 | Molten, hot material | 2 | 5.1% | |
| 7 | Arcing | 1 | 2.6% | |
| 8 | Hot ember or ash | 1 | 2.6% | |
| 9 | Fireworks | 1 | 2.6% | |
| 10 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 1 | 2.6% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 4 | 10.3% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Chapman departments in 2025. These 4 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $25,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $10,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $10,000 | Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $500 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Chapman sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 96,902 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 8,000 | 11.2 mi | |
| 2004 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 7,000 | 43.7 mi | |
| 2013 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 6,500 | 17.6 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 6,289 | 19.1 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 6,278 | 18.2 mi | |
| 1994 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 5,000 | 38.1 mi | |
| 2011 | Debris and open burning | 5,000 | 46.9 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 5,000 | 15.7 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 4,800 | 21.5 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 4,000 | 41.7 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 3,500 | 45.0 mi | |
| 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 3,500 | 19.7 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 Chapman. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
2 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Chapman.
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.