In 2025, fire departments serving Plains responded to 18 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $100K 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 89% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Jan dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
53 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $452K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 11 | — | |
| 2022* | 5 | — | |
| 2023 | 8 | — | |
| 2024 | 11 | +37.5% | |
| 2025 | 18 | +63.6% |
* Well below Plains'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 4 building fires Plains departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 14 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 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 3 | 21.4% | |
| 2 | Railroad right of way: on or near | 2 | 14.3% | |
| 3 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 2 | 14.3% | |
| 4 | Undetermined | 2 | 14.3% | |
| 5 | Dining room, cafeteria bar area, beverage service | 1 | 7.1% | |
| 6 | Storage area, other | 1 | 7.1% | |
| 7 | Storage room, area, tank, or bin | 1 | 7.1% | |
| 8 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 1 | 7.1% | |
| 9 | Cargo/trunk area - all vehicles | 1 | 7.1% |
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 Plains mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 3 | 21.4% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 3 | 21.4% | |
| 3 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 2 | 14.3% | |
| 4 | Heat, spark from friction | 2 | 14.3% | |
| 5 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 1 | 7.1% | |
| 6 | Arcing | 1 | 7.1% | |
| 7 | Hot ember or ash | 1 | 7.1% | |
| 8 | Lightning | 1 | 7.1% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Plains departments in 2025. These 4 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $80,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $50,000 | Camper or recreational vehicle (RV) fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $20,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Plains sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 819,590 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 | 40.8 mi | |
| 1996 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 55,000 | 20.0 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 29,189 | 44.7 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 9,700 | 11.2 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 9,600 | 32.1 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 7,500 | 12.0 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 4,769 | 45.9 mi | |
| 2002 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 4,000 | 31.3 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 3,213 | 48.4 mi | |
| 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 3,126 | 20.8 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 3,000 | 44.5 mi | |
| 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,962 | 36.8 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 Plains. 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.