In 2025, fire departments serving Sedgwick responded to 34 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $20K 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 79% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Jan dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
202 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $654K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 32 | — | |
| 2022 | 59 | +84.4% | |
| 2023 | 39 | -33.9% | |
| 2024 | 38 | -2.6% | |
| 2025 | 34 | -10.5% |
For the 7 building fires Sedgwick departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 56 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 | 14 | 25.0% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 12 | 21.4% | |
| 3 | Undetermined | 11 | 19.6% | |
| 4 | Cooking area, kitchen | 4 | 7.1% | |
| 5 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 4 | 7.1% | |
| 6 | Other | 3 | 5.4% | |
| 7 | Vehicle area, other | 2 | 3.6% | |
| 8 | Wildland, woods | 2 | 3.6% | |
| 9 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 1 | 1.8% | |
| 10 | Closet | 1 | 1.8% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 2 | 3.6% |
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 Sedgwick mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 18 | 32.1% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 8 | 14.3% | |
| 3 | Hot ember or ash | 7 | 12.5% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 4 | 7.1% | |
| 5 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 4 | 7.1% | |
| 6 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 3 | 5.4% | |
| 7 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 3 | 5.4% | |
| 8 | Heat source: other | 2 | 3.6% | |
| 9 | Flying brand, ember, spark | 2 | 3.6% | |
| 10 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 1 | 1.8% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 4 | 7.1% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Sedgwick departments in 2025. These 2 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $20,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $500 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Sedgwick sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 144,830 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 | 47.6 mi | |
| 1994 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 16,000 | 36.2 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 14,000 | 18.2 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 10,700 | 27.2 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 8,800 | 17.2 mi | |
| 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 8,000 | 37.6 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 6,400 | 33.7 mi | |
| 2002 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 6,000 | 28.6 mi | |
| 2002 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 5,500 | 33.0 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 4,945 | 18.5 mi | |
| 1996 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 4,000 | 32.9 mi | |
| 2012 | Natural | 3,800 | 27.7 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 Sedgwick. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Sedgwick.
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.