In 2025, fire departments serving Russell responded to 83 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $75K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Aircraft standby lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 52% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Oct dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
546 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $519K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 120 | — | |
| 2022 | 120 | +0.0% | |
| 2023 | 101 | -15.8% | |
| 2024 | 122 | +20.8% | |
| 2025 | 83 | -32.0% |
For the 4 building fires Russell departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 139 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 | Outside area, other | 36 | 25.9% | |
| 2 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 22 | 15.8% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 16 | 11.5% | |
| 4 | Undetermined | 10 | 7.2% | |
| 5 | Cooking area, kitchen | 7 | 5.0% | |
| 6 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 7 | 5.0% | |
| 7 | Vehicle area, other | 7 | 5.0% | |
| 8 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 5 | 3.6% | |
| 9 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 3 | 2.2% | |
| 10 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 3 | 2.2% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 23 | 16.5% |
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 Russell mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 49 | 35.3% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 18 | 12.9% | |
| 3 | Heat source: other | 15 | 10.8% | |
| 4 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 13 | 9.4% | |
| 5 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 7 | 5.0% | |
| 6 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 6 | 4.3% | |
| 7 | Heat, spark from friction | 6 | 4.3% | |
| 8 | Hot ember or ash | 5 | 3.6% | |
| 9 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 5 | 3.6% | |
| 10 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 3 | 2.2% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 12 | 8.6% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Russell departments in 2025. These 7 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $75,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $20,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $12,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $5,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $5,000 | Cultivated vegetation, crop fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $5,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $1,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Russell sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 99,153 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 | 28,000 | 12.8 mi | |
| 1996 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 7,600 | 39.9 mi | |
| 2017 | Equipment and vehicle use | 7,500 | 19.7 mi | |
| 1996 | Arson/incendiarism | 6,000 | 44.4 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 5,350 | 28.7 mi | |
| 1994 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 4,960 | 44.2 mi | |
| 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 4,500 | 11.2 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 3,840 | 45.1 mi | |
| 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 3,500 | 46.9 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 3,200 | 20.0 mi | |
| 2015 | Debris and open burning | 3,000 | 46.0 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 3,000 | 23.7 mi |
Top 1 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
| # | ZIP | 5-yr incidents | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 67665 | 546 |
Six Kansas cities with population within ±25% of Russell. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Russell.
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.