In 2025, fire departments serving Humboldt responded to 19 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $2K 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 74% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Aug dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
158 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $31K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 25 | — | |
| 2022 | 31 | +24.0% | |
| 2023 | 40 | +29.0% | |
| 2024 | 43 | +7.5% | |
| 2025 | 19 | -55.8% |
For the 5 building fires Humboldt 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 | 3 | 10.3% | |
| 3 | Vehicle area, other | 3 | 10.3% | |
| 4 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 3 | 10.3% | |
| 5 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 2 | 6.9% | |
| 6 | Wall surface: exterior | 2 | 6.9% | |
| 7 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 1 | 3.4% | |
| 8 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 1 | 3.4% | |
| 9 | Processing/manufacturing area, workroom | 1 | 3.4% | |
| 10 | Closet | 1 | 3.4% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 5 | 17.2% |
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 Humboldt mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 7 | 24.1% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 6 | 20.7% | |
| 3 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 4 | 13.8% | |
| 4 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 3 | 10.3% | |
| 5 | Hot ember or ash | 3 | 10.3% | |
| 6 | Flying brand, ember, spark | 2 | 6.9% | |
| 7 | Heat source: other | 1 | 3.4% | |
| 8 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 1 | 3.4% | |
| 9 | Backfire from internal combustion engine | 1 | 3.4% | |
| 10 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 1 | 3.4% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Humboldt departments in 2025. These 1 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $2,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Humboldt sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 91,910 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 | 23,000 | 37.9 mi | |
| 1996 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 12,000 | 39.7 mi | |
| 2002 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 12,000 | 34.9 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 6,000 | 36.7 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 5,500 | 45.8 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 3,500 | 45.4 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 3,200 | 18.9 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 3,100 | 45.8 mi | |
| 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,600 | 48.5 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,560 | 11.6 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,000 | 26.1 mi | |
| 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,000 | 31.7 mi |
Top 1 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
| # | ZIP | 5-yr incidents | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 66748 | 158 |
Six Kansas cities with population within ±25% of Humboldt. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Humboldt.
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.