In 2025, fire departments serving Ellsworth responded to 36 fire and hazmat incidents . Here's the full picture.
Aircraft standby lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 75% of all calls.
Jul peaks. Nov dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
240 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 50 | — | |
| 2022 | 69 | +38.0% | |
| 2023 | 50 | -27.5% | |
| 2024 | 35 | -30.0% | |
| 2025 | 36 | +2.9% |
For the 0 building fires Ellsworth departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 18 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 | Undetermined | 14 | 77.8% | |
| 2 | Other | 1 | 5.6% | |
| 3 | Interior stairway or ramp | 1 | 5.6% | |
| 4 | Fuel tank, fuel line | 1 | 5.6% | |
| 5 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 1 | 5.6% |
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 Ellsworth mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 17 | 94.4% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 1 | 5.6% |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Ellsworth sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 120,766 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 28,000 | 23.8 mi | |
| 1994 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 16,000 | 38.3 mi | |
| 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 8,000 | 34.8 mi | |
| 1996 | Arson/incendiarism | 6,000 | 33.7 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 5,350 | 21.5 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 5,000 | 42.2 mi | |
| 1994 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 4,960 | 31.9 mi | |
| 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 4,500 | 46.3 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 3,840 | 24.0 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 3,664 | 43.1 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 3,200 | 15.9 mi | |
| 2015 | Debris and open burning | 3,000 | 43.7 mi |
Top 3 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 Ellsworth. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
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.