In 2025, fire departments serving Friend responded to 11 fire and hazmat incidents . Here's the full picture.
Grass fire lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 91% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Feb dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
71 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 14 | — | |
| 2022 | 17 | +21.4% | |
| 2023 | 12 | -29.4% | |
| 2024 | 17 | +41.7% | |
| 2025 | 11 | -35.3% |
For the 0 building fires Friend 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 | Outside area, other | 7 | 33.3% | |
| 2 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 5 | 23.8% | |
| 3 | Undetermined | 3 | 14.3% | |
| 4 | Other | 1 | 4.8% | |
| 5 | Cooking area, kitchen | 1 | 4.8% | |
| 6 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 1 | 4.8% | |
| 7 | Attic: vacant, crawl space above top story, cupola | 1 | 4.8% | |
| 8 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 1 | 4.8% | |
| 9 | Railroad right of way: 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 Friend mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 6 | 28.6% | |
| 2 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 3 | 14.3% | |
| 3 | Hot ember or ash | 3 | 14.3% | |
| 4 | Lightning | 3 | 14.3% | |
| 5 | Heat source: other | 2 | 9.5% | |
| 6 | Heat, spark from friction | 2 | 9.5% | |
| 7 | Arcing | 1 | 4.8% | |
| 8 | Backfire from internal combustion engine | 1 | 4.8% |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Friend sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 11,003 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | Debris and open burning | 3,500 | 29.5 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 1,000 | 24.9 mi | |
| 2016 | Debris and open burning | 700 | 44.6 mi | |
| 2014 | Smoking | 700 | 32.6 mi | |
| 2015 | Debris and open burning | 450 | 44.4 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 450 | 26.7 mi | |
| 2017 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 408 | 35.7 mi | |
| 2015 | Debris and open burning | 401 | 28.0 mi | |
| 1996 | Debris and open burning | 350 | 26.6 mi | |
| 2011 | Smoking | 320 | 40.5 mi | |
| 2014 | Equipment and vehicle use | 280 | 35.5 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 250 | 28.4 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 Friend. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Friend.
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.