In 2025, fire departments serving South Hutchinson responded to 39 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $500 building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 56% of all calls.
Jul peaks. Feb dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
186 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2021. $599K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 52 | — | |
| 2022 | 34 | -34.6% | |
| 2023* | 22 | — | |
| 2024 | 39 | — | |
| 2025 | 39 | +0.0% |
* Well below South Hutchinson'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 2 building fires South Hutchinson departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 55 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 | 12 | 21.8% | |
| 2 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 6 | 10.9% | |
| 3 | Cooking area, kitchen | 5 | 9.1% | |
| 4 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 4 | 7.3% | |
| 5 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 4 | 7.3% | |
| 6 | Roof surface: exterior | 3 | 5.5% | |
| 7 | Railroad right of way: on or near | 3 | 5.5% | |
| 8 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 3 | 5.5% | |
| 9 | Other | 2 | 3.6% | |
| 10 | Storage area, other | 2 | 3.6% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 11 | 20.0% |
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 South Hutchinson mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 20 | 36.4% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 9 | 16.4% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 6 | 10.9% | |
| 4 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 4 | 7.3% | |
| 5 | Heat source: other | 3 | 5.5% | |
| 6 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 3 | 5.5% | |
| 7 | Hot ember or ash | 2 | 3.6% | |
| 8 | Fireworks | 2 | 3.6% | |
| 9 | Cigarette lighter | 2 | 3.6% | |
| 10 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 1 | 1.8% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 3 | 5.5% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by South Hutchinson departments in 2025. These 1 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $500 | Trash or rubbish fire, contained | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. South Hutchinson sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 107,459 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1994 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 16,000 | 13.2 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 14,000 | 13.3 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 8,800 | 14.8 mi | |
| 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 8,000 | 18.1 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 6,400 | 23.9 mi | |
| 1996 | Arson/incendiarism | 6,000 | 36.4 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 5,000 | 25.8 mi | |
| 1994 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 4,960 | 35.5 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 4,945 | 14.7 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 3,664 | 34.7 mi | |
| 2015 | Debris and open burning | 3,000 | 44.5 mi | |
| 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 3,000 | 36.2 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 South Hutchinson. 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.