In 2025, fire departments serving Horton responded to 47 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $50K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Building fires lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 68% of all calls.
Nov peaks. Oct dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
274 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $809K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 38 | — | |
| 2022 | 61 | +60.5% | |
| 2023 | 57 | -6.6% | |
| 2024 | 71 | +24.6% | |
| 2025 | 47 | -33.8% |
For the 9 building fires Horton departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 96 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 | 18 | 18.8% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 17 | 17.7% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 8 | 8.3% | |
| 4 | Undetermined | 5 | 5.2% | |
| 5 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 4 | 4.2% | |
| 6 | Attic: vacant, crawl space above top story, cupola | 4 | 4.2% | |
| 7 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 4 | 4.2% | |
| 8 | Heating room or area, water heater area | 3 | 3.1% | |
| 9 | Ceiling & floor assembly, crawl space b/t stories | 3 | 3.1% | |
| 10 | Wall assembly | 3 | 3.1% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 27 | 28.1% |
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 Horton mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 32 | 33.3% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 17 | 17.7% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 12 | 12.5% | |
| 4 | Hot ember or ash | 6 | 6.2% | |
| 5 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 5 | 5.2% | |
| 6 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 4 | 4.2% | |
| 7 | Flying brand, ember, spark | 4 | 4.2% | |
| 8 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 2 | 2.1% | |
| 9 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 2 | 2.1% | |
| 10 | Radiated heat from another fire | 2 | 2.1% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 10 | 10.4% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Horton departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 81% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $50,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $30,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $25,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $25,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $25,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $20,000 | Fire in mobile prop. used as a fixed struc., other | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $10,000 | Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $10,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Horton sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 43,599 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 12,000 | 47.3 mi | |
| 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 8,000 | 40.8 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 3,000 | 39.7 mi | |
| 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,800 | 41.4 mi | |
| 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,800 | 48.6 mi | |
| 2011 | Debris and open burning | 1,700 | 28.8 mi | |
| 1994 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,600 | 47.4 mi | |
| 2017 | Debris and open burning | 1,250 | 48.1 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,200 | 49.6 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,200 | 48.3 mi | |
| 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,020 | 30.4 mi | |
| 2005 | Arson/incendiarism | 940 | 10.5 mi |
Top 4 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 Horton. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Horton.
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.