In 2025, fire departments serving Marion responded to 33 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $20K 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 64% of all calls.
Feb peaks. Jan dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
54 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $33K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 12 | — | |
| 2022 | 9 | -25.0% | |
| 2023* | 0 | — | |
| 2024* | 0 | — | |
| 2025 | 33 | — |
* Well below Marion'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 6 building fires Marion departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 11 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 | Other | 2 | 18.2% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 2 | 18.2% | |
| 3 | Duct: hvac, cable, exhaust, heating, or AC | 1 | 9.1% | |
| 4 | Wall assembly | 1 | 9.1% | |
| 5 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 1 | 9.1% | |
| 6 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 1 | 9.1% | |
| 7 | Courtyard, patio, porch, terrace | 1 | 9.1% | |
| 8 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 1 | 9.1% | |
| 9 | Undetermined | 1 | 9.1% |
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 Marion mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hot ember or ash | 4 | 36.4% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 2 | 18.2% | |
| 3 | Undetermined | 2 | 18.2% | |
| 4 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 9.1% | |
| 5 | Arcing | 1 | 9.1% | |
| 6 | Chemical reaction | 1 | 9.1% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Marion departments in 2025. These 5 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $20,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $10,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $2,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $500 | Chimney or flue fire, confined to chimney or flue | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $50 | Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Marion sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 166,635 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 30,000 | 25.0 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 14,000 | 42.9 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 10,700 | 35.6 mi | |
| 1996 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 10,000 | 37.5 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 8,800 | 41.4 mi | |
| 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 8,000 | 49.9 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 8,000 | 37.6 mi | |
| 2002 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 6,000 | 30.2 mi | |
| 2002 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 5,500 | 29.6 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 5,500 | 48.4 mi | |
| 1994 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 5,000 | 41.1 mi | |
| 2011 | Debris and open burning | 5,000 | 29.1 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 Marion. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Marion.
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.