In 2025, fire departments serving Franklin responded to 13 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $6K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 77% of all calls.
Jan peaks. Jul dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
89 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $1.1M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 20 | — | |
| 2022 | 19 | -5.0% | |
| 2023 | 16 | -15.8% | |
| 2024 | 21 | +31.2% | |
| 2025 | 13 | -38.1% |
For the 2 building fires Franklin departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 21 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 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 6 | 28.6% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 5 | 23.8% | |
| 3 | Undetermined | 3 | 14.3% | |
| 4 | Vehicle area, other | 2 | 9.5% | |
| 5 | Outside area, other | 2 | 9.5% | |
| 6 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 1 | 4.8% | |
| 7 | Attic: vacant, crawl space above top story, cupola | 1 | 4.8% | |
| 8 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 1 | 4.8% |
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 Franklin mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 5 | 23.8% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 4 | 19.0% | |
| 3 | Heat, spark from friction | 3 | 14.3% | |
| 4 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 3 | 14.3% | |
| 5 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 1 | 4.8% | |
| 6 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 4.8% | |
| 7 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 1 | 4.8% | |
| 8 | Molten, hot material | 1 | 4.8% | |
| 9 | Hot ember or ash | 1 | 4.8% | |
| 10 | Heat from undetermined smoking material | 1 | 4.8% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Franklin departments in 2025. These 2 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $6,000 | Vehicle accident, general cleanup | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $150 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Franklin sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 12,501 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,250 | 40.3 mi | |
| 2020 | Debris and open burning | 1,520 | 46.3 mi | |
| 1999 | Debris and open burning | 1,500 | 19.2 mi | |
| 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,100 | 21.8 mi | |
| 2020 | Smoking | 660 | 48.6 mi | |
| 2009 | Debris and open burning | 640 | 39.4 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 500 | 34.1 mi | |
| 2015 | Equipment and vehicle use | 450 | 31.3 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 300 | 35.0 mi | |
| 2011 | Debris and open burning | 300 | 4.3 mi | |
| 2020 | Smoking | 300 | 47.0 mi | |
| 2005 | Debris and open burning | 289 | 35.6 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 Nebraska cities with population within ±25% of Franklin. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Franklin.
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.