In 2025, fire departments serving Wellsville responded to 68 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $100K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Grass fire lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 62% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
417 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $769K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 96 | — | |
| 2022 | 84 | -12.5% | |
| 2023 | 98 | +16.7% | |
| 2024 | 71 | -27.6% | |
| 2025 | 68 | -4.2% |
For the 3 building fires Wellsville departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 195 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 | 65 | 33.3% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 30 | 15.4% | |
| 3 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 15 | 7.7% | |
| 4 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 13 | 6.7% | |
| 5 | Outside area, other | 12 | 6.2% | |
| 6 | Other | 9 | 4.6% | |
| 7 | Vehicle area, other | 5 | 2.6% | |
| 8 | Wildland, woods | 5 | 2.6% | |
| 9 | Function area, other | 4 | 2.1% | |
| 10 | Storage room, area, tank, or bin | 4 | 2.1% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 33 | 16.9% |
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 Wellsville mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 78 | 40.0% | |
| 2 | Match | 30 | 15.4% | |
| 3 | Flying brand, ember, spark | 16 | 8.2% | |
| 4 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 14 | 7.2% | |
| 5 | Arcing | 8 | 4.1% | |
| 6 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 6 | 3.1% | |
| 7 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 6 | 3.1% | |
| 8 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 5 | 2.6% | |
| 9 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 5 | 2.6% | |
| 10 | Heat source: other | 4 | 2.1% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 23 | 11.8% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Wellsville departments in 2025. These 4 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $100,000 | Fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $12,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $1,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $200 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Wellsville sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 29,796 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 6,000 | 46.4 mi | |
| 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 3,200 | 48.7 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,500 | 31.0 mi | |
| 2017 | Debris and open burning | 1,250 | 45.9 mi | |
| 2019 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,120 | 49.9 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,078 | 49.7 mi | |
| 2009 | Debris and open burning | 1,043 | 49.9 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,000 | 38.0 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,000 | 48.6 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,000 | 36.0 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 914 | 49.5 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 900 | 41.6 mi |
Top 5 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 Wellsville. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Wellsville.
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.