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2025 County Report

Fires in Clay County, KS

In 2025, fire departments serving Clay County responded to 92 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $75K property loss. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as High.

5,557 residents FIPS 20027 10 cities · 8 fire depts
Total incidents
92
540 across 5 years
Building fires
12
23 wildland
Property loss
$271K
$166K structure · $106K contents
Casualties
0 / 0
0 civ deaths · 0 civ inj · 0 FF inj
01 The mix

What kinds of fires happen here?

Aircraft standby lead by count. Top five categories make up about 75% of all calls.

92
Total Incidents
Aircraft standby 25 27.2%
Grass fire 18 19.6%
Building fires 12 13.0%
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) 9 9.8%
Fire, other 5 5.4%
All other categories 23 25.0%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in Clay County?

Aug peaks. May dips.

Jan 5
Feb 6
Mar 13
Apr 13
May 0
Jun 8
Jul 9
Aug 17
Sep 8
Oct 11
Nov 1
Dec 1
03 Five-year trend

Year over year in Clay County

540 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 128
2022 122
2023 116
2024 82
2025 92
04 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 12 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional
81%
13
Cause undetermined
12%
2
Intentional / arson
0%
0
Equipment / heat source failure
6%
1
Under investigation
0%
0
Act of nature (lightning)
1%
0
05 The biggest fires

5 fires · $166K in losses

Largest single-incident property losses in Clay County during 2025. These 5 fires alone account for 100% of the county's total.

#Property lossCityTypeSeverity
1 $75,000 Clay Center Building fires Significant
2 $50,000 oak hill Building fires Significant
3 $25,000 Clay Center Building fires Significant
4 $15,000 Clay Center Building fires Significant
5 $600 Clay Center Road freight or transport vehicle fire Significant
06 How Clay County compares

Clay County vs KS vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

16.56
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Clay County
16.56
KS avg
9.66
US avg
7.15
2.16
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Clay County
2.16
KS avg
0.99
US avg
0.82
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
Clay County
0
KS avg
8.5
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in Clay County

10 cities mapped to FIPS 20027.

08 First responders

Busiest fire departments in Clay County

8 departments report from this county.

CLAY CENTER FIRE DEPARTMENT
—
FDID CY201 50 incidents 7 paid
Clay Center Fire Dist1
Clay Center
FDID CY409 19 incidents 11 vol
Green Rural Fire Dept
Green
FDID CY307 1 incidents
Wakefield Rural Fire Dept
Wakefield
FDID CY414 1 incidents 14 vol
Wakefield City Fire Dept
Wakefield
FDID CY305 0 incidents
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.