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2025 County Report

Fires in Clay County, NE

In 2025, fire departments serving Clay County responded to 24 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $50K property loss. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as Moderate.

4,838 residents FIPS 31035 13 cities · 7 fire depts
Total incidents
24
119 across 5 years
Building fires
4
6 wildland
Property loss
$140K
$110K structure · $30K contents
Casualties
0 / 0
0 civ deaths · 0 civ inj · 0 FF inj
01 The mix

What kinds of fires happen here?

Building fires lead by count. Top five categories make up about 71% of all calls.

24
Total Incidents
Building fires 4 16.7%
Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire 4 16.7%
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) 4 16.7%
Cultivated grain or crop fire 3 12.5%
Vehicle accident, general cleanup 2 8.3%
All other categories 7 29.2%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in Clay County?

Mar peaks. Jul dips.

Jan 4
Feb 1
Mar 5
Apr 1
May 1
Jun 2
Jul 0
Aug 2
Sep 1
Oct 2
Nov 4
Dec 1
03 Five-year trend

Year over year in Clay County

119 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 33
2022 34
2023 13
2024 15
2025 24
04 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 4 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional
50%
1
Cause undetermined
0%
0
Intentional / arson
0%
0
Equipment / heat source failure
0%
0
Under investigation
50%
1
Act of nature (lightning)
0%
0
05 The biggest fires

4 fires · $110K in losses

Largest single-incident property losses in Clay County during 2025. These 4 fires alone account for 100% of the county's total.

#Property lossCityTypeSeverity
1 $50,000 SUTTON Building fires Significant
2 $50,000 HARVARD Building fires Significant
3 $5,000 SARONVILLE Cultivated vegetation, crop fire, other Significant
4 $5,000 HARVARD Building fires Significant
06 How Clay County compares

Clay County vs NE vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

4.96
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Clay County
4.96
NE avg
5.67
US avg
7.15
0.83
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Clay County
0.83
NE avg
0.57
US avg
0.82
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
Clay County
0
NE avg
7
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in Clay County

12 cities mapped to FIPS 31035.

08 First responders

Busiest fire departments in Clay County

7 departments report from this county.

Clay Center Vol Fire Dept
CLAY CENTER
FDID 30001 17 incidents 37 vol
Edgar Vol Fire Dept
Edgar
FDID 30002 0 incidents 21 vol
Fairfield Vol Fire Rescue
Fairfield
FDID 30003 0 incidents 18 vol
Glenvil Fire Rescue
Glenvil
FDID 30004 0 incidents 22 vol
Harvard Vol Fire Dept
Harvard
FDID 30005 0 incidents 40 vol
09 Historical wildfires

Largest fires recorded in NE

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

#NameYearAgencyAcres
1 West Ash 2012 USFS 56,470
2 POWDERHORN 2000 USFS 45,765
3 Bovee 2022 USFS 18,875
4 Spotted Tail #3 2006 USFS 17,928
5 Plum 1965 USFS 13,235
6 Roberts Tract 2006 USFS 9,929
7 Hay Canyon 2012 USFS 9,882
8 Good Friday 1995 USFS 6,853
9 Red Kate 2019 FWS 5,035
10 Coffee 1987 USFS 4,836

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.