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2025 County Report

Fires in Atchison County, KS

In 2025, fire departments serving Atchison County responded to 165 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $150K property loss. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as High.

11,985 residents FIPS 20005 19 cities · 6 fire depts
Total incidents
165
965 across 5 years
Building fires
13
28 wildland
Property loss
$543K
$396K structure · $147K contents
Casualties
0 / 1
0 civ deaths · 0 civ inj · 1 FF inj
01 The mix

What kinds of fires happen here?

Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) lead by count. Top five categories make up about 51% of all calls.

165
Total Incidents
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) 23 13.9%
Grass fire 20 12.1%
Cooking fire, confined to container 17 10.3%
Building fires 13 7.9%
Power line down 11 6.7%
All other categories 81 49.1%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in Atchison County?

Mar peaks. Nov dips.

Jan 19
Feb 11
Mar 27
Apr 8
May 21
Jun 15
Jul 15
Aug 17
Sep 14
Oct 15
Nov 1
Dec 2
03 Five-year trend

Year over year in Atchison County

965 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 174
2022 231
2023 207
2024 188
2025 165
04 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 13 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional
66%
33
Cause undetermined
16%
8
Intentional / arson
4%
2
Equipment / heat source failure
4%
2
Under investigation
6%
3
Act of nature (lightning)
4%
1
05 The biggest fires

10 fires · $356K in losses

Largest single-incident property losses in Atchison County during 2025. These 10 fires alone account for 90% of the county's total.

#Property lossCityTypeSeverity
1 $150,000 Effingham Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire Significant
2 $50,000 Atchison Building fires Significant
3 $38,360 Atchison Building fires Significant
4 $35,010 Atchison Building fires Significant
5 $30,000 Cummings Passenger vehicle fire Significant
6 $20,000 Atchison Building fires Significant
7 $10,000 Atchison Building fires Significant
8 $10,000 Atchison Building fires Significant
9 $8,000 Effingham Passenger vehicle fire Significant
10 $5,000 Atchison Building fires Significant
06 How Atchison County compares

Atchison County vs KS vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

13.77
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Atchison County
13.77
KS avg
9.66
US avg
7.15
1.08
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Atchison County
1.08
KS avg
0.99
US avg
0.82
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
Atchison County
0
KS avg
8.5
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in Atchison County

12 cities mapped to FIPS 20005.

08 First responders

Busiest fire departments in Atchison County

6 departments report from this county.

Atchison Co Fire Dist2
EFFINGHAM
FDID AT407 24 incidents 19 vol
Atchison County Dist5
Lancaster
FDID AT408 21 incidents 26 vol
Atchison Co Fire Dist1
Atchison
FDID AT402 0 incidents 20 vol
Atchison Co Fire Dist3
—
FDID AT403 0 incidents 12 vol
Mt Pleasant Fire Dist4
Atchison
FDID AT405 0 incidents 15 vol
09 Historical wildfires

Largest fires recorded in KS

Top 10 fire perimeters by acres burned (state-scoped fallback while we build out per-county polygons).

#NameYearAgencyAcres
1 ANNUAL BUR 1998 NPS 60,039
2 Tunner 2011 USFS 19,656
3 Boiling Springs 2021 PRI 4,571
4 BIG SALT MARSH 2010 FWS 3,697
5 Steeler 2006 USFS 2,380
6 Greenwood 2010 USFS 2,078
7 15 Two Section East Traps 2015 NPS 2,060
8 21 Big South 2021 NPS 1,954
9 Cottonwood 2018 FWS 1,508
10 East Kennedy Creek 2019 PRI 1,115

About this data

County-level NFIRS aggregates for 2025, plus 5-year totals across 2021–2025. NFIRS is voluntary — about 23,000 of roughly 30,000 US fire departments report — so totals are a strong indicator, not a complete census. Wildfire risk score (0–100) and Expected Annual Loss come from FEMA's National Risk Index. Drought class is the most recent USDM classification (D0 = abnormally dry through D4 = exceptional drought). Historical fire perimeters are sourced from the NIFC InterAgency Fire Perimeter History.