In 2025, fire departments serving Fort Scott responded to 182 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $300K 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 62% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Aug dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
942 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $7.5M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 180 | — | |
| 2022 | 178 | -1.1% | |
| 2023 | 238 | +33.7% | |
| 2024 | 164 | -31.1% | |
| 2025 | 182 | +11.0% |
For the 27 building fires Fort Scott departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 275 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 | 79 | 28.7% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 34 | 12.4% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 33 | 12.0% | |
| 4 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 20 | 7.3% | |
| 5 | Other | 17 | 6.2% | |
| 6 | Cooking area, kitchen | 12 | 4.4% | |
| 7 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 11 | 4.0% | |
| 8 | Wall surface: exterior | 8 | 2.9% | |
| 9 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 6 | 2.2% | |
| 10 | Attic: vacant, crawl space above top story, cupola | 6 | 2.2% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 49 | 17.8% |
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 Fort Scott mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 153 | 55.6% | |
| 2 | Heat source: other | 15 | 5.5% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 15 | 5.5% | |
| 4 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 13 | 4.7% | |
| 5 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 9 | 3.3% | |
| 6 | Hot ember or ash | 9 | 3.3% | |
| 7 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 8 | 2.9% | |
| 8 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 8 | 2.9% | |
| 9 | Radiated heat from another fire | 8 | 2.9% | |
| 10 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 6 | 2.2% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 31 | 11.3% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Fort Scott departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 84% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $300,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $250,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 3 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $64,500 | Outside storage fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $40,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $35,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $35,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Fort Scott sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 26,213 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 6,000 | 18.5 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 3,200 | 21.9 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,560 | 30.5 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,300 | 20.3 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,017 | 48.7 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,000 | 29.2 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,000 | 16.1 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,000 | 28.7 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 750 | 24.4 mi | |
| 2014 | Arson/incendiarism | 750 | 26.2 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 750 | 31.6 mi | |
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 723 | 37.8 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 Fort Scott. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
3 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Fort Scott.
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.