In 2025, fire departments serving Derby responded to 196 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $100K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Building fires lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 72% of all calls.
Jun peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
1,422 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $1.1M cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 216 | — | |
| 2022 | 336 | +55.6% | |
| 2023 | 287 | -14.6% | |
| 2024 | 387 | +34.8% | |
| 2025 | 196 | -49.4% |
For the 49 building fires Derby departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 331 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 | 79 | 23.9% | |
| 2 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 42 | 12.7% | |
| 3 | Undetermined | 32 | 9.7% | |
| 4 | Cooking area, kitchen | 30 | 9.1% | |
| 5 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 27 | 8.2% | |
| 6 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 24 | 7.3% | |
| 7 | Other | 10 | 3.0% | |
| 8 | Courtyard, patio, porch, terrace | 8 | 2.4% | |
| 9 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 7 | 2.1% | |
| 10 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 7 | 2.1% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 65 | 19.6% |
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 Derby mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 149 | 45.0% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 28 | 8.5% | |
| 3 | Cigarette | 18 | 5.4% | |
| 4 | Cigarette lighter | 17 | 5.1% | |
| 5 | Arcing | 16 | 4.8% | |
| 6 | Heat source: other | 13 | 3.9% | |
| 7 | Fireworks | 13 | 3.9% | |
| 8 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 12 | 3.6% | |
| 9 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 10 | 3.0% | |
| 10 | Hot ember or ash | 8 | 2.4% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 47 | 14.2% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Derby departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 95% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $25,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $10,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $7,500 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $6,500 | Outside rubbish, trash or waste fire | 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. Derby sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 126,335 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 | 40.6 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 14,000 | 42.3 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 10,700 | 26.5 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 8,800 | 41.9 mi | |
| 2015 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 6,400 | 41.0 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 6,400 | 39.5 mi | |
| 2002 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 6,000 | 32.3 mi | |
| 2002 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 5,500 | 36.5 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 4,945 | 43.4 mi | |
| 1996 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 4,000 | 35.9 mi | |
| 2012 | Natural | 3,800 | 36.0 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 3,500 | 45.7 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 Derby. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Derby.
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.