In 2025, fire departments serving La Cygne responded to 23 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $400K 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 69% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Apr dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
131 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $588K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 39 | — | |
| 2022 | 43 | +10.3% | |
| 2023 | 18 | -58.1% | |
| 2024* | 8 | — | |
| 2025 | 23 | — |
* Well below La Cygne'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 La Cygne departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 36 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 | 13 | 36.1% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 4 | 11.1% | |
| 3 | Wildland, woods | 3 | 8.3% | |
| 4 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 2 | 5.6% | |
| 5 | Cooking area, kitchen | 2 | 5.6% | |
| 6 | Storage: supplies or tools; dead storage | 2 | 5.6% | |
| 7 | Computer room, control room or center | 1 | 2.8% | |
| 8 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 1 | 2.8% | |
| 9 | Duct: hvac, cable, exhaust, heating, or AC | 1 | 2.8% | |
| 10 | Conveyor | 1 | 2.8% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 6 | 16.7% |
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 La Cygne mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 18 | 50.0% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 4 | 11.1% | |
| 3 | Hot ember or ash | 4 | 11.1% | |
| 4 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 3 | 8.3% | |
| 5 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 2 | 5.6% | |
| 6 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 2 | 5.6% | |
| 7 | Heat source: other | 1 | 2.8% | |
| 8 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 1 | 2.8% | |
| 9 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 1 | 2.8% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by La Cygne departments in 2025. These 3 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $400,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $50,000 | Fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $3,000 | Outside rubbish, trash or waste fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. La Cygne sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 22,527 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 6,000 | 19.7 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 3,200 | 37.3 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,300 | 43.8 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,000 | 18.7 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,000 | 20.5 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,000 | 10.8 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 750 | 27.6 mi | |
| 2014 | Arson/incendiarism | 750 | 11.5 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 750 | 7.9 mi | |
| 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 700 | 7.9 mi | |
| 2016 | Debris and open burning | 600 | 47.6 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 600 | 10.3 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 Kansas cities with population within ±25% of La Cygne. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in La Cygne.
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.