In 2025, fire departments serving Kansas City responded to 4,867 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $1000.0M 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 52% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
24,276 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $1.1B cumulative property loss. 3 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 4,788 | — | |
| 2022 | 3,129 | -34.6% | |
| 2023 | 5,351 | +71.0% | |
| 2024 | 6,141 | +14.8% | |
| 2025 | 4,867 | -20.7% |
For the 414 building fires Kansas City departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 4,935 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 | 2,217 | 44.9% | |
| 2 | Other | 647 | 13.1% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 305 | 6.2% | |
| 4 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 278 | 5.6% | |
| 5 | Cooking area, kitchen | 205 | 4.2% | |
| 6 | Vehicle area, other | 132 | 2.7% | |
| 7 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 97 | 2.0% | |
| 8 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 74 | 1.5% | |
| 9 | Function area, other | 70 | 1.4% | |
| 10 | Storage area, other | 70 | 1.4% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 840 | 17.0% |
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 Kansas City mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 3,420 | 69.3% | |
| 2 | Heat source: other | 559 | 11.3% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 215 | 4.4% | |
| 4 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 183 | 3.7% | |
| 5 | Arcing | 91 | 1.8% | |
| 6 | Hot ember or ash | 68 | 1.4% | |
| 7 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 54 | 1.1% | |
| 8 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 49 | 1.0% | |
| 9 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 41 | 0.8% | |
| 10 | Match | 39 | 0.8% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 216 | 4.4% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Kansas City departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 99% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $999,999,999 | Building fires | Catastrophic | Investigated |
| 2 | $9,999,999 | Building fires | Catastrophic | Investigated |
| 3 | $4,500,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 4 | $1,000,000 | Fire, other | Major | Investigated |
| 5 | $999,999 | Fire, other | Major | Investigated |
| 6 | $999,999 | Fire, other | Major | Investigated |
| 7 | $999,999 | Passenger vehicle fire | Major | Investigated |
| 8 | $500,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Kansas City sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 11,271 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 902 | 46.5 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 900 | 35.8 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 800 | 34.3 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 800 | 33.5 mi | |
| 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 800 | 20.0 mi | |
| 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 750 | 29.9 mi | |
| 2018 | Arson/incendiarism | 667 | 36.5 mi | |
| 1999 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 500 | 41.0 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 450 | 33.8 mi | |
| 2015 | Debris and open burning | 400 | 31.1 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 400 | 47.1 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 400 | 47.1 mi |
Top 10 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
2 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Kansas City.
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.