In 2025, fire departments serving Hesston responded to 36 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $2.0M building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Gasoline or other flammable liquid spill lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 64% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Nov dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
195 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $2.3M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 47 | — | |
| 2022 | 51 | +8.5% | |
| 2023 | 27 | -47.1% | |
| 2024 | 34 | +25.9% | |
| 2025 | 36 | +5.9% |
For the 5 building fires Hesston departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 33 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 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 6 | 18.2% | |
| 2 | Vehicle area, other | 3 | 9.1% | |
| 3 | Undetermined | 3 | 9.1% | |
| 4 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 2 | 6.1% | |
| 5 | Equipment or service area, other | 2 | 6.1% | |
| 6 | Outside area, other | 2 | 6.1% | |
| 7 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 2 | 6.1% | |
| 8 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 1 | 3.0% | |
| 9 | Cooking area, kitchen | 1 | 3.0% | |
| 10 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 1 | 3.0% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 10 | 30.3% |
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 Hesston mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 7 | 21.2% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 4 | 12.1% | |
| 3 | Heat source: other | 3 | 9.1% | |
| 4 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 3 | 9.1% | |
| 5 | Arcing | 3 | 9.1% | |
| 6 | Heat, spark from friction | 3 | 9.1% | |
| 7 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 2 | 6.1% | |
| 8 | Hot ember or ash | 2 | 6.1% | |
| 9 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 1 | 3.0% | |
| 10 | Explosive, fireworks, other | 1 | 3.0% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 4 | 12.1% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Hesston departments in 2025. These 3 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $2,000,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $25,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $200 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Hesston sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 151,560 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 30,000 | 44.5 mi | |
| 1994 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 16,000 | 29.8 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 14,000 | 16.0 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 10,700 | 34.0 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 8,800 | 14.5 mi | |
| 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 8,000 | 29.0 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 6,400 | 43.0 mi | |
| 2002 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 6,000 | 32.5 mi | |
| 2002 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 5,500 | 35.7 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 4,945 | 14.4 mi | |
| 1996 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 4,000 | 35.8 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 4,000 | 44.8 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 Hesston. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Hesston.
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.