In 2025, fire departments serving Holdrege responded to 20 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $20K 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 75% of all calls.
Oct peaks. Jun dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
84 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $296K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 4 | — | |
| 2022 | 22 | — | |
| 2023 | 16 | -27.3% | |
| 2024 | 22 | +37.5% | |
| 2025 | 20 | -9.1% |
* Well below Holdrege's usual volume. That almost always means one or more departments didn't submit a full year to NFIRS, not that fires dropped, so no year-over-year change is shown for it.
For the 3 building fires Holdrege departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 29 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 | 7 | 24.1% | |
| 2 | Cooking area, kitchen | 5 | 17.2% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 4 | 13.8% | |
| 4 | Undetermined | 3 | 10.3% | |
| 5 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 2 | 6.9% | |
| 6 | Wall surface: exterior | 2 | 6.9% | |
| 7 | Vehicle area, other | 2 | 6.9% | |
| 8 | Other | 1 | 3.4% | |
| 9 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 1 | 3.4% | |
| 10 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 1 | 3.4% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 1 | 3.4% |
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 Holdrege mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 6 | 20.7% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 5 | 17.2% | |
| 3 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 4 | 13.8% | |
| 4 | Undetermined | 3 | 10.3% | |
| 5 | Heat source: other | 2 | 6.9% | |
| 6 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 2 | 6.9% | |
| 7 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 2 | 6.9% | |
| 8 | Heat, spark from friction | 1 | 3.4% | |
| 9 | Hot ember or ash | 1 | 3.4% | |
| 10 | Fireworks | 1 | 3.4% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 2 | 6.9% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Holdrege departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $20,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $15,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $5,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $5,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $1,000 | Cooking fire, confined to container | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $1,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $800 | Cooking fire, confined to container | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $100 | Grass fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Holdrege sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 12,203 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,000 | 48.3 mi | |
| 2020 | Debris and open burning | 1,520 | 29.2 mi | |
| 2010 | Recreation and ceremony | 1,000 | 41.6 mi | |
| 2020 | Debris and open burning | 900 | 45.3 mi | |
| 2009 | Debris and open burning | 640 | 25.4 mi | |
| 2010 | Debris and open burning | 600 | 45.4 mi | |
| 2015 | Equipment and vehicle use | 500 | 34.5 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 480 | 41.7 mi | |
| 2018 | Equipment and vehicle use | 450 | 47.7 mi | |
| 2009 | Equipment and vehicle use | 440 | 32.8 mi | |
| 2011 | Debris and open burning | 400 | 30.7 mi | |
| 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 375 | 44.9 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 Holdrege. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Holdrege.
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.