In 2025, fire departments serving Kearney responded to 84 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $85K 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 58% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Oct dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
395 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2021. $1.7M cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 87 | — | |
| 2022 | 81 | -6.9% | |
| 2023 | 62 | -23.5% | |
| 2024 | 81 | +30.6% | |
| 2025 | 84 | +3.7% |
For the 7 building fires Kearney departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 94 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 | 26 | 27.7% | |
| 2 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 14 | 14.9% | |
| 3 | Undetermined | 7 | 7.4% | |
| 4 | Cooking area, kitchen | 5 | 5.3% | |
| 5 | Outside area, other | 5 | 5.3% | |
| 6 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 4 | 4.3% | |
| 7 | Vehicle area, other | 4 | 4.3% | |
| 8 | Courtyard, patio, porch, terrace | 3 | 3.2% | |
| 9 | Other | 2 | 2.1% | |
| 10 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 2 | 2.1% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 22 | 23.4% |
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 Kearney mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 34 | 36.2% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 10 | 10.6% | |
| 3 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 9 | 9.6% | |
| 4 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 6 | 6.4% | |
| 5 | Hot ember or ash | 6 | 6.4% | |
| 6 | Heat, spark from friction | 4 | 4.3% | |
| 7 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 4 | 4.3% | |
| 8 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 3 | 3.2% | |
| 9 | Radiated heat from another fire | 3 | 3.2% | |
| 10 | Arcing | 2 | 2.1% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 13 | 13.8% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Kearney departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 98% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $85,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $75,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $12,500 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $12,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $10,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $5,000 | Fuel burner/boiler malfunction, fire confined | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $3,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Kearney sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 12,191 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 | 29.1 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 900 | 43.7 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 800 | 49.2 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 800 | 43.0 mi | |
| 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 800 | 35.0 mi | |
| 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 750 | 39.9 mi | |
| 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 700 | 44.9 mi | |
| 2018 | Arson/incendiarism | 667 | 37.0 mi | |
| 1997 | Debris and open burning | 600 | 40.9 mi | |
| 1999 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 500 | 37.2 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 450 | 40.6 mi | |
| 2015 | Debris and open burning | 400 | 38.0 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 Missouri cities with population within ±25% of Kearney. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Kearney.
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.