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2025 County Report

Fires in Cheyenne County, KS

In 2025, fire departments serving Cheyenne County responded to 38 fire and hazmat incidents. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as High.

1,755 residents FIPS 20023 3 cities · 3 fire depts
Total incidents
38
125 across 5 years
Building fires
2
17 wildland
Property loss
$500
$0 structure · $500 contents
Casualties
0 / 0
0 civ deaths · 0 civ inj · 0 FF inj
01 The mix

What kinds of fires happen here?

Grass fire lead by count. Top five categories make up about 66% of all calls.

38
Total Incidents
Grass fire 12 31.6%
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) 7 18.4%
Building fires 2 5.3%
Natural vegetation fire, other 2 5.3%
Cultivated grain or crop fire 2 5.3%
All other categories 13 34.2%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in Cheyenne County?

Jul peaks. Nov dips.

Jan 3
Feb 3
Mar 3
Apr 3
May 3
Jun 6
Jul 11
Aug 1
Sep 2
Oct 1
Nov 0
Dec 2
03 Five-year trend

Year over year in Cheyenne County

125 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 13
2022 17
2023 25
2024 32
2025 38
04 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 2 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional
21%
4
Cause undetermined
37%
7
Intentional / arson
0%
0
Equipment / heat source failure
11%
2
Under investigation
0%
0
Act of nature (lightning)
31%
6
06 How Cheyenne County compares

Cheyenne County vs KS vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

21.65
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Cheyenne County
21.65
KS avg
9.66
US avg
7.15
1.14
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Cheyenne County
1.14
KS avg
0.99
US avg
0.82
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
Cheyenne County
0
KS avg
8.5
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in Cheyenne County

3 cities mapped to FIPS 20023.

CityPopulation 
St. Francis 1,230 View ›
Bird City 525 View ›
Wheeler 0 View ›
08 First responders

Busiest fire departments in Cheyenne County

3 departments report from this county.

Cheyenne County Fire
—
FDID CN101 28 incidents
St Francis Fire Department
St Francis
FDID CN302 6 incidents
Bird City
Bird City
FDID CN301 3 incidents 18 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.