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2025 County Report

Fires in Franklin County, KS

In 2025, fire departments serving Franklin County responded to 356 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $100K property loss. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as Moderate.

17,379 residents FIPS 20059 17 cities · 11 fire depts
Total incidents
356
2,289 across 5 years
Building fires
41
132 wildland
Property loss
$924K
$676K structure · $248K contents
Casualties
0 / 3
0 civ deaths · 0 civ inj · 3 FF inj
01 The mix

What kinds of fires happen here?

Grass fire lead by count. Top five categories make up about 64% of all calls.

356
Total Incidents
Grass fire 106 29.8%
Building fires 41 11.5%
Authorized controlled burning 38 10.7%
Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire 21 5.9%
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) 20 5.6%
All other categories 130 36.5%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in Franklin County?

Mar peaks. Dec dips.

Jan 32
Feb 29
Mar 112
Apr 37
May 29
Jun 20
Jul 42
Aug 19
Sep 19
Oct 10
Nov 7
Dec 0
03 Five-year trend

Year over year in Franklin County

2,289 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 434
2022 495
2023 540
2024 464
2025 356
04 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 41 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional
47%
40
Cause undetermined
19%
16
Intentional / arson
13%
11
Equipment / heat source failure
16%
14
Under investigation
1%
1
Act of nature (lightning)
4%
3
05 The biggest fires

10 fires · $618K in losses

Largest single-incident property losses in Franklin County during 2025. These 10 fires alone account for 91% of the county's total.

#Property lossCityTypeSeverity
1 $100,000 Wellsville Fire, other Significant
2 $100,000 Ottawa Building fires Significant
3 $75,000 Ottawa Building fires Significant
4 $70,000 Ottawa Building fires Significant
5 $65,000 Princeton Passenger vehicle fire Significant
6 $60,000 Ottawa Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other Significant
7 $45,000 Lane Building fires Significant
8 $40,000 Williamsburg Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire Significant
9 $35,000 Pomona Outside equipment fire Significant
10 $28,000 RICHMOND Building fires Significant
06 How Franklin County compares

Franklin County vs KS vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

20.48
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Franklin County
20.48
KS avg
9.66
US avg
7.15
2.36
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Franklin County
2.36
KS avg
0.99
US avg
0.82
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
Franklin County
0
KS avg
8.5
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in Franklin County

12 cities mapped to FIPS 20059.

08 First responders

Busiest fire departments in Franklin County

11 departments report from this county.

Station One
OTTAWA
FDID FR201 113 incidents 20 paid
Wellsville Fire Department
WELLSVILLE
FDID FR306 69 incidents 36 vol
Cutler Twp Fire Department
Rantoul
FDID FR408 51 incidents 16 vol
LOH Fire District
OTTAWA
FDID FR414 50 incidents 21 vol
Ohio Township Fire Department
Princeton
FDID FR304 35 incidents 13 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.