In 2025, fire departments serving Meade responded to 17 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $60K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Grass fire lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 94% of all calls.
Mar peaks. May dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
109 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2021. $361K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 28 | — | |
| 2022 | 27 | -3.6% | |
| 2023 | 14 | -48.1% | |
| 2024 | 23 | +64.3% | |
| 2025 | 17 | -26.1% |
For the 0 building fires Meade departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 13 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 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 2 | 15.4% | |
| 2 | Courtyard, patio, porch, terrace | 2 | 15.4% | |
| 3 | Undetermined | 2 | 15.4% | |
| 4 | Other | 1 | 7.7% | |
| 5 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 1 | 7.7% | |
| 6 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 1 | 7.7% | |
| 7 | Wall assembly | 1 | 7.7% | |
| 8 | Vehicle area, other | 1 | 7.7% | |
| 9 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 1 | 7.7% | |
| 10 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 1 | 7.7% |
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 Meade mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Arcing | 3 | 23.1% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 3 | 23.1% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 2 | 15.4% | |
| 4 | Heat source: other | 1 | 7.7% | |
| 5 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 7.7% | |
| 6 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 1 | 7.7% | |
| 7 | Hot ember or ash | 1 | 7.7% | |
| 8 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 1 | 7.7% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Meade departments in 2025. These 2 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $60,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $500 | Grass fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Meade sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 950,777 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 662,700 | 36.4 mi | |
| 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 69,396 | 48.5 mi | |
| 1996 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 55,000 | 15.5 mi | |
| 2017 | Debris and open burning | 37,000 | 47.1 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 29,189 | 48.3 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 18,000 | 40.4 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 9,700 | 9.5 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 9,600 | 45.4 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 7,500 | 25.7 mi | |
| 1994 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 7,000 | 48.6 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 6,000 | 38.1 mi | |
| 2010 | Natural | 4,190 | 38.4 mi |
Top 6 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 Meade. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
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.