In 2025, fire departments serving Moundridge responded to 30 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $450K 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 67% of all calls.
May peaks. Sep dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
220 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $1.6M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 37 | — | |
| 2022 | 57 | +54.1% | |
| 2023 | 52 | -8.8% | |
| 2024 | 44 | -15.4% | |
| 2025 | 30 | -31.8% |
For the 8 building fires Moundridge departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 77 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 | 17 | 22.1% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 15 | 19.5% | |
| 3 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 11 | 14.3% | |
| 4 | Other | 9 | 11.7% | |
| 5 | Outside area, other | 5 | 6.5% | |
| 6 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 2 | 2.6% | |
| 7 | Structural area, other | 2 | 2.6% | |
| 8 | Wall surface: exterior | 2 | 2.6% | |
| 9 | Exterior, exposed surface | 2 | 2.6% | |
| 10 | Courtyard, patio, porch, terrace | 2 | 2.6% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 10 | 13.0% |
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 Moundridge mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 27 | 35.1% | |
| 2 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 12 | 15.6% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 5 | 6.5% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 5 | 6.5% | |
| 5 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 4 | 5.2% | |
| 6 | Hot ember or ash | 4 | 5.2% | |
| 7 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 3 | 3.9% | |
| 8 | Heat, spark from friction | 3 | 3.9% | |
| 9 | Multiple heat sources including multiple ignitions | 3 | 3.9% | |
| 10 | Fireworks | 2 | 2.6% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 9 | 11.7% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Moundridge departments in 2025. These 5 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $450,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $35,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $30,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $12,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $3,500 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Moundridge sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 154,060 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 | 49.3 mi | |
| 1994 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 16,000 | 24.5 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 14,000 | 14.2 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 10,700 | 40.4 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 8,800 | 12.9 mi | |
| 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 8,000 | 23.1 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 6,400 | 43.4 mi | |
| 2002 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 6,000 | 38.7 mi | |
| 2002 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 5,500 | 41.7 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 5,000 | 48.1 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 4,945 | 12.1 mi | |
| 1996 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 4,000 | 41.9 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 Kansas cities with population within ±25% of Moundridge. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Moundridge.
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.