In 2025, fire departments serving Wellington responded to 147 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $80K 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 57% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Sep dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
976 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $2.0M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 150 | — | |
| 2022 | 236 | +57.3% | |
| 2023 | 231 | -2.1% | |
| 2024 | 212 | -8.2% | |
| 2025 | 147 | -30.7% |
For the 21 building fires Wellington departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 303 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 | 83 | 27.4% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 33 | 10.9% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 24 | 7.9% | |
| 4 | Undetermined | 20 | 6.6% | |
| 5 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 18 | 5.9% | |
| 6 | Exterior, exposed surface | 13 | 4.3% | |
| 7 | Wall surface: exterior | 9 | 3.0% | |
| 8 | Courtyard, patio, porch, terrace | 9 | 3.0% | |
| 9 | Cooking area, kitchen | 7 | 2.3% | |
| 10 | Other | 6 | 2.0% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 81 | 26.7% |
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 Wellington mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 109 | 36.0% | |
| 2 | Hot ember or ash | 24 | 7.9% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 20 | 6.6% | |
| 4 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 18 | 5.9% | |
| 5 | Arcing | 18 | 5.9% | |
| 6 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 14 | 4.6% | |
| 7 | Cigarette lighter | 14 | 4.6% | |
| 8 | Flying brand, ember, spark | 12 | 4.0% | |
| 9 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 10 | 3.3% | |
| 10 | Fireworks | 8 | 2.6% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 56 | 18.5% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Wellington departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 94% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $80,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $60,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $40,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $35,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $30,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $25,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $20,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Wellington sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 73,010 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 25,650 | 47.9 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 10,700 | 48.4 mi | |
| 2015 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 6,400 | 29.7 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 6,400 | 41.2 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 5,015 | 47.0 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 3,000 | 44.8 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 3,000 | 38.7 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,500 | 48.5 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,000 | 30.0 mi | |
| 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,000 | 44.6 mi | |
| 2001 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 810 | 22.5 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 800 | 47.5 mi |
Top 3 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 Wellington. 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.