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2025 County Report

Fires in Geary County, KS

In 2025, fire departments serving Geary County responded to 233 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $100K property loss. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as Very High.

24,845 residents FIPS 20061 6 cities · 4 fire depts
Total incidents
233
1,381 across 5 years
Building fires
23
26 wildland
Property loss
$877K
$656K structure · $221K contents
Casualties
0 / 4
0 civ deaths · 2 civ inj · 2 FF inj
01 The mix

What kinds of fires happen here?

Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) lead by count. Top five categories make up about 57% of all calls.

233
Total Incidents
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) 44 18.9%
Power line down 34 14.6%
Building fires 23 9.9%
Arcing, shorted electrical equipment 17 7.3%
Passenger vehicle fire 15 6.4%
All other categories 100 42.9%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in Geary County?

Aug peaks. Nov dips.

Jan 28
Feb 18
Mar 37
Apr 22
May 12
Jun 15
Jul 6
Aug 39
Sep 15
Oct 26
Nov 3
Dec 12
03 Five-year trend

Year over year in Geary County

1,381 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 290
2022 276
2023 297
2024 285
2025 233
04 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 23 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional
59%
42
Cause undetermined
8%
6
Intentional / arson
3%
2
Equipment / heat source failure
23%
16
Under investigation
3%
2
Act of nature (lightning)
4%
0
05 The biggest fires

10 fires · $485K in losses

Largest single-incident property losses in Geary County during 2025. These 10 fires alone account for 74% of the county's total.

#Property lossCityTypeSeverity
1 $100,000 Junction City Building fires Significant
2 $100,000 Milford Building fires Significant
3 $60,000 Junction City Road freight or transport vehicle fire Significant
4 $50,000 Junction City Self-propelled motor home or recreational vehicle Significant
5 $35,000 Junction City Building fires Significant
6 $35,000 Junction City Passenger vehicle fire Significant
7 $30,000 Junction City Passenger vehicle fire Significant
8 $25,000 Junction City Building fires Significant
9 $25,000 Junction City Building fires Significant
10 $25,000 Junction City Building fires Significant
06 How Geary County compares

Geary County vs KS vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

9.38
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Geary County
9.38
KS avg
9.66
US avg
7.15
0.93
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Geary County
0.93
KS avg
0.99
US avg
0.82
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
Geary County
0
KS avg
8.5
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in Geary County

6 cities mapped to FIPS 20061.

08 First responders

Busiest fire departments in Geary County

4 departments report from this county.

Junction City Fire Department
Junction City
FDID GE101 181 incidents 53 paid
GEARY CO RURAL FIRE DEPT
—
FDID GE400 56 incidents 23 paid 37 vol
GRANDVIEW PLAZA FIRE DEPT
—
FDID GE302 1 incidents 1 paid
Milford Fire Department
Milford
FDID GE303 0 incidents 10 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.