In 2025, fire departments serving Waverly responded to 23 fire and hazmat incidents . Here's the full picture.
Grass fire lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 87% of all calls.
Mar peaks. May dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
132 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $57K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 27 | — | |
| 2022 | 38 | +40.7% | |
| 2023 | 25 | -34.2% | |
| 2024 | 19 | -24.0% | |
| 2025 | 23 | +21.1% |
For the 0 building fires Waverly departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 99 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 | 61 | 61.6% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 8 | 8.1% | |
| 3 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 7 | 7.1% | |
| 4 | Wildland, woods | 6 | 6.1% | |
| 5 | Wall surface: exterior | 4 | 4.0% | |
| 6 | Vehicle area, other | 3 | 3.0% | |
| 7 | Exterior, exposed surface | 2 | 2.0% | |
| 8 | Outside area, other | 2 | 2.0% | |
| 9 | Egress/exit, other | 1 | 1.0% | |
| 10 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 1 | 1.0% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 4 | 4.0% |
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 Waverly mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Flying brand, ember, spark | 17 | 17.2% | |
| 2 | Hot ember or ash | 16 | 16.2% | |
| 3 | Undetermined | 12 | 12.1% | |
| 4 | Match | 11 | 11.1% | |
| 5 | Molten, hot material | 8 | 8.1% | |
| 6 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 6 | 6.1% | |
| 7 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 6 | 6.1% | |
| 8 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 5 | 5.1% | |
| 9 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 4 | 4.0% | |
| 10 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 4 | 4.0% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 10 | 10.1% |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Waverly sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 95,572 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 23,000 | 43.0 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 6,000 | 46.8 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 5,500 | 44.5 mi | |
| 1994 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 5,000 | 48.3 mi | |
| 2011 | Debris and open burning | 5,000 | 47.6 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 5,000 | 38.4 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 4,500 | 19.9 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 3,500 | 49.8 mi | |
| 2015 | Arson/incendiarism | 3,500 | 31.8 mi | |
| 2010 | Debris and open burning | 3,490 | 49.8 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 3,200 | 45.1 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 3,200 | 42.4 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 Waverly. 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.