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2025 County Report

Fires in Decatur County, KS

In 2025, fire departments serving Decatur County responded to 59 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $10K property loss.

2,021 residents FIPS 20039 10 cities · 4 fire depts
Total incidents
59
171 across 5 years
Building fires
2
8 wildland
Property loss
$25K
$18K structure · $8K 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 76% of all calls.

59
Total Incidents
Aircraft standby 29 49.2%
Fire, other 6 10.2%
Grass fire 6 10.2%
Building fires 2 3.4%
Trash or rubbish fire, contained 2 3.4%
All other categories 14 23.7%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in Decatur County?

Apr peaks. Dec dips.

Jan 3
Feb 7
Mar 4
Apr 8
May 6
Jun 7
Jul 8
Aug 3
Sep 4
Oct 5
Nov 3
Dec 1
03 Five-year trend

Year over year in Decatur County

171 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 0
2022 1
2023 42
2024 69
2025 59
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
67%
12
Cause undetermined
0%
0
Intentional / arson
6%
1
Equipment / heat source failure
6%
1
Under investigation
6%
1
Act of nature (lightning)
15%
3
05 The biggest fires

3 fires · $18K in losses

Largest single-incident property losses in Decatur County during 2025. These 3 fires alone account for 100% of the county's total.

#Property lossCityTypeSeverity
1 $10,000 Oberlin Building fires Significant
2 $5,000 Oberlin Fire, other Significant
3 $2,500 Oberlin Overheated motor Significant
06 How Decatur County compares

Decatur County vs KS vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

29.19
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Decatur County
29.19
KS avg
9.66
US avg
7.15
0.99
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Decatur County
0.99
KS avg
0.99
US avg
0.82
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
Decatur County
0
KS avg
8.5
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in Decatur County

10 cities mapped to FIPS 20039.

08 First responders

Busiest fire departments in Decatur County

4 departments report from this county.

Oberlin Fire Department
Oberlin
FDID DC304 33 incidents 1 vol
Decatur Co Rural Fire Dept
Oberlin
FDID DC406 21 incidents 1 vol
JENNINGS FIRE DEPARTMENT
—
FDID DC302 3 incidents
NORCATUR FIRE DEPARTMENT
—
FDID DC301 2 incidents 11 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.