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2025 County Report

Fires in Douglas County, NE

In 2025, fire departments serving Douglas County responded to 3,098 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $750K property loss. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as Very High.

502,875 residents FIPS 31055 18 cities · 9 fire depts
Total incidents
3,098
10,238 across 5 years
Building fires
366
71 wildland
Property loss
$11.0M
$8.6M structure · $2.5M contents
Casualties
2 / 23
2 civ deaths · 7 civ inj · 16 FF inj
01 The mix

What kinds of fires happen here?

Outside rubbish, trash or waste fire lead by count. Top five categories make up about 56% of all calls.

3,098
Total Incidents
Outside rubbish, trash or waste fire 479 15.5%
Outside rubbish fire, other 463 14.9%
Building fires 366 11.8%
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) 209 6.7%
Passenger vehicle fire 208 6.7%
All other categories 1,373 44.3%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in Douglas County?

Mar peaks. Dec dips.

Jan 261
Feb 211
Mar 330
Apr 313
May 282
Jun 261
Jul 289
Aug 265
Sep 231
Oct 241
Nov 236
Dec 178
03 Five-year trend

Year over year in Douglas County

10,238 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 161
2022 231
2023 3,199
2024 3,549
2025 3,098
04 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 366 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional
54%
447
Cause undetermined
13%
108
Intentional / arson
12%
102
Equipment / heat source failure
12%
103
Under investigation
7%
57
Act of nature (lightning)
2%
6
05 The biggest fires

10 fires · $2.4M in losses

Largest single-incident property losses in Douglas County during 2025. These 10 fires alone account for 28% of the county's total.

#Property lossCityTypeSeverity
1 $750,000 OMAHA Building fires Major
2 $300,000 DOUGLAS COUNTY Building fires Major
3 $300,000 DOUGLAS COUNTY Passenger vehicle fire Major
4 $200,000 OMAHA Building fires Significant
5 $200,000 OMAHA Passenger vehicle fire Significant
6 $200,000 OMAHA Passenger vehicle fire Significant
7 $150,000 DOUGLAS COUNTY Building fires Significant
8 $125,000 OMAHA Building fires Significant
9 $120,000 OMAHA Building fires Significant
10 $100,000 City of Bennington Building fires Significant
06 How Douglas County compares

Douglas County vs NE vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

6.16
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Douglas County
6.16
NE avg
5.67
US avg
7.15
0.73
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Douglas County
0.73
NE avg
0.57
US avg
0.82
4
Civilian fire deaths per million
Douglas County
4
NE avg
7
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in Douglas County

12 cities mapped to FIPS 31055.

08 First responders

Busiest fire departments in Douglas County

9 departments report from this county.

Omaha Fire Rescue
Omaha
FDID 01005 2,987 incidents 652 paid
Omaha Airport Auth FireRescue
OMAHA
FDID 01011 105 incidents 20 paid
Bennington Fire Rescue
Bennington
FDID 01001 85 incidents 43 vol
Ponca Hills Vol Fire Dept
Omaha
FDID 01006 1 incidents 27 vol
Boys Town Fire Rescue
Boys Town
FDID 01002 0 incidents 35 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.