In 2025, fire departments serving Effingham responded to 18 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $150K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Grass fire lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 72% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Feb dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
71 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $730K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 7 | — | |
| 2022 | 9 | — | |
| 2023 | 21 | +133.3% | |
| 2024 | 16 | -23.8% | |
| 2025 | 18 | +12.5% |
* Well below Effingham'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 Effingham departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 31 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 | 10 | 32.3% | |
| 2 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 7 | 22.6% | |
| 3 | Other | 2 | 6.5% | |
| 4 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 2 | 6.5% | |
| 5 | Structural area, other | 2 | 6.5% | |
| 6 | Undetermined | 2 | 6.5% | |
| 7 | Cooking area, kitchen | 1 | 3.2% | |
| 8 | Storage area, other | 1 | 3.2% | |
| 9 | Ceiling & floor assembly, crawl space b/t stories | 1 | 3.2% | |
| 10 | Wall assembly | 1 | 3.2% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 2 | 6.5% |
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 Effingham mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 9 | 29.0% | |
| 2 | Heat, spark from friction | 4 | 12.9% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 3 | 9.7% | |
| 4 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 3 | 9.7% | |
| 5 | Arcing | 3 | 9.7% | |
| 6 | Match | 3 | 9.7% | |
| 7 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 2 | 6.5% | |
| 8 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 1 | 3.2% | |
| 9 | Cigarette | 1 | 3.2% | |
| 10 | Cigarette lighter | 1 | 3.2% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 1 | 3.2% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Effingham departments in 2025. These 6 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $150,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $8,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $5,000 | Fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $3,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $3,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $1,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Effingham sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 43,199 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 12,000 | 44.2 mi | |
| 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 8,000 | 43.1 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 3,000 | 37.7 mi | |
| 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,800 | 48.2 mi | |
| 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,800 | 46.3 mi | |
| 2011 | Debris and open burning | 1,700 | 30.2 mi | |
| 1994 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,600 | 45.2 mi | |
| 2017 | Debris and open burning | 1,250 | 42.7 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,200 | 49.0 mi | |
| 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,020 | 42.1 mi | |
| 2005 | Arson/incendiarism | 940 | 21.9 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 900 | 18.6 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 Effingham. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
2 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Effingham.
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.