In 2025, fire departments serving Towanda responded to 19 fire and hazmat incidents . Here's the full picture.
Building fires lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 68% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Apr dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
141 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $48K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 30 | — | |
| 2022 | 37 | +23.3% | |
| 2023 | 38 | +2.7% | |
| 2024 | 17 | -55.3% | |
| 2025 | 19 | +11.8% |
For the 7 building fires Towanda departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 44 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 | 13 | 29.5% | |
| 2 | Cooking area, kitchen | 4 | 9.1% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 3 | 6.8% | |
| 4 | Function area, other | 2 | 4.5% | |
| 5 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 2 | 4.5% | |
| 6 | Wall surface: exterior | 2 | 4.5% | |
| 7 | Vehicle area, other | 2 | 4.5% | |
| 8 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 2 | 4.5% | |
| 9 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 2 | 4.5% | |
| 10 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 2 | 4.5% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 10 | 22.7% |
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 Towanda mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 10 | 22.7% | |
| 2 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 5 | 11.4% | |
| 3 | Heat source: other | 4 | 9.1% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 4 | 9.1% | |
| 5 | Arcing | 4 | 9.1% | |
| 6 | Hot ember or ash | 3 | 6.8% | |
| 7 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 3 | 6.8% | |
| 8 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 2 | 4.5% | |
| 9 | Heat from undetermined smoking material | 2 | 4.5% | |
| 10 | Lightning | 2 | 4.5% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 5 | 11.4% |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Towanda sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 191,885 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 | 33.6 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 25,650 | 38.8 mi | |
| 1996 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 23,000 | 48.7 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 14,000 | 42.5 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 10,700 | 4.8 mi | |
| 1996 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 10,000 | 32.9 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 8,800 | 41.4 mi | |
| 2002 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 6,000 | 10.7 mi | |
| 2002 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 5,500 | 14.7 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 5,500 | 43.2 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 5,000 | 49.2 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 4,945 | 42.5 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 | 67144 | 141 |
Six Kansas cities with population within ±25% of Towanda. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Towanda.
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.