In 2025, fire departments serving Gardner responded to 149 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $350K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 49% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Jan dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
781 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $2.4M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 140 | — | |
| 2022 | 183 | +30.7% | |
| 2023 | 175 | -4.4% | |
| 2024 | 134 | -23.4% | |
| 2025 | 149 | +11.2% |
For the 13 building fires Gardner departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 270 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 | 52 | 19.3% | |
| 2 | Cooking area, kitchen | 34 | 12.6% | |
| 3 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 32 | 11.9% | |
| 4 | Outside area, other | 29 | 10.7% | |
| 5 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 24 | 8.9% | |
| 6 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 14 | 5.2% | |
| 7 | Other | 12 | 4.4% | |
| 8 | Courtyard, patio, porch, terrace | 8 | 3.0% | |
| 9 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 7 | 2.6% | |
| 10 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 7 | 2.6% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 51 | 18.9% |
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 Gardner mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 144 | 53.3% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 18 | 6.7% | |
| 3 | Heat source: other | 14 | 5.2% | |
| 4 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 13 | 4.8% | |
| 5 | Hot ember or ash | 13 | 4.8% | |
| 6 | Fireworks | 13 | 4.8% | |
| 7 | Arcing | 11 | 4.1% | |
| 8 | Cigarette | 7 | 2.6% | |
| 9 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 6 | 2.2% | |
| 10 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 5 | 1.9% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 26 | 9.6% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Gardner departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 98% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $349,500 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $20,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $10,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $6,000 | Fire in mobile home used as fixed residence | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $5,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $4,400 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Gardner sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 16,022 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,500 | 40.0 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,000 | 44.7 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,000 | 40.9 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 900 | 37.2 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 800 | 21.1 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 800 | 33.3 mi | |
| 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 800 | 20.0 mi | |
| 2014 | Arson/incendiarism | 750 | 44.5 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 750 | 39.7 mi | |
| 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 750 | 30.9 mi | |
| 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 700 | 37.9 mi | |
| 2018 | Arson/incendiarism | 667 | 48.1 mi |
Top 7 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 Gardner. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Gardner.
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.