In 2025, fire departments serving Overbrook responded to 36 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $30K 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 92% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Oct dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
222 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2021. $168K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 72 | — | |
| 2022 | 52 | -27.8% | |
| 2023 | 29 | -44.2% | |
| 2024 | 33 | +13.8% | |
| 2025 | 36 | +9.1% |
For the 6 building fires Overbrook departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 111 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 | 34 | 30.6% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 21 | 18.9% | |
| 3 | Wildland, woods | 15 | 13.5% | |
| 4 | Outside area, other | 14 | 12.6% | |
| 5 | Other | 5 | 4.5% | |
| 6 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 3 | 2.7% | |
| 7 | Storage area, other | 3 | 2.7% | |
| 8 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 3 | 2.7% | |
| 9 | Cooking area, kitchen | 2 | 1.8% | |
| 10 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 1 | 0.9% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 10 | 9.0% |
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 Overbrook mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hot ember or ash | 36 | 32.4% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 34 | 30.6% | |
| 3 | Match | 9 | 8.1% | |
| 4 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 7 | 6.3% | |
| 5 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 5 | 4.5% | |
| 6 | Arcing | 5 | 4.5% | |
| 7 | Heat source: other | 3 | 2.7% | |
| 8 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 3 | 2.7% | |
| 9 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 2 | 1.8% | |
| 10 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 1 | 0.9% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 6 | 5.4% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Overbrook departments in 2025. These 3 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $30,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $15,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $5,000 | Fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Overbrook sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 54,609 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 12,000 | 31.0 mi | |
| 1994 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 5,000 | 45.7 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 4,500 | 32.5 mi | |
| 2015 | Arson/incendiarism | 3,500 | 48.3 mi | |
| 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 3,200 | 22.6 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 3,000 | 35.8 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,800 | 37.0 mi | |
| 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,800 | 34.4 mi | |
| 2011 | Debris and open burning | 1,700 | 46.4 mi | |
| 1994 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,600 | 34.6 mi | |
| 2018 | Debris and open burning | 1,500 | 30.4 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,500 | 8.7 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 Overbrook. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Overbrook.
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.