In 2025, fire departments serving Doniphan responded to 12 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $3K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Incomplete 2025 data. Doniphan's departments reported 12 incidents to NFIRS for 2025, against about 21 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 75% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Jan dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
103 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2021. $509K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 26 | — | |
| 2022 | 25 | -3.8% | |
| 2023 | 17 | -32.0% | |
| 2024 | 23 | +35.3% | |
| 2025* | 12 | — |
* Well below Doniphan'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 Doniphan departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 35 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 | 15 | 42.9% | |
| 2 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 7 | 20.0% | |
| 3 | Cooking area, kitchen | 2 | 5.7% | |
| 4 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 2 | 5.7% | |
| 5 | Egress/exit, other | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 6 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 7 | Heating room or area, water heater area | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 8 | Maintenance shop or area, paint shop or area | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 9 | Wall surface: exterior | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 10 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 3 | 8.6% |
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 Doniphan mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 7 | 20.0% | |
| 2 | Heat, spark from friction | 6 | 17.1% | |
| 3 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 5 | 14.3% | |
| 4 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 5 | 14.3% | |
| 5 | Arcing | 4 | 11.4% | |
| 6 | Hot ember or ash | 4 | 11.4% | |
| 7 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 8 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 9 | Chemical reaction | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 10 | Flying brand, ember, spark | 1 | 2.9% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Doniphan departments in 2025. These 3 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $2,500 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $500 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $50 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Doniphan sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 17,777 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Debris and open burning | 5,000 | 46.6 mi | |
| 2012 | Debris and open burning | 3,500 | 34.1 mi | |
| 2020 | Debris and open burning | 1,520 | 34.0 mi | |
| 2010 | Recreation and ceremony | 1,000 | 44.6 mi | |
| 2013 | Debris and open burning | 1,000 | 45.6 mi | |
| 2020 | Smoking | 660 | 46.8 mi | |
| 2009 | Debris and open burning | 640 | 33.6 mi | |
| 2010 | Debris and open burning | 600 | 46.0 mi | |
| 2015 | Equipment and vehicle use | 500 | 43.3 mi | |
| 2017 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 408 | 29.8 mi | |
| 1996 | Debris and open burning | 350 | 37.7 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 300 | 15.8 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 | 68832 | 103 |
Six Nebraska cities with population within ±25% of Doniphan. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Doniphan.
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.