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2025 County Report

Fires in Jackson County, KS

In 2025, fire departments serving Jackson County responded to 144 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $350K property loss. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as Very High.

5,459 residents FIPS 20085 11 cities · 8 fire depts
Total incidents
144
1,229 across 5 years
Building fires
19
86 wildland
Property loss
$922K
$567K structure · $355K contents
Casualties
0 / 2
0 civ deaths · 0 civ inj · 2 FF inj
01 The mix

What kinds of fires happen here?

Grass fire lead by count. Top five categories make up about 76% of all calls.

144
Total Incidents
Grass fire 66 45.8%
Building fires 19 13.2%
Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire 14 9.7%
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) 6 4.2%
Passenger vehicle fire 5 3.5%
All other categories 34 23.6%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in Jackson County?

Mar peaks. Jan dips.

Jan 1
Feb 11
Mar 52
Apr 31
May 2
Jun 6
Jul 6
Aug 4
Sep 4
Oct 11
Nov 9
Dec 7
03 Five-year trend

Year over year in Jackson County

1,229 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 281
2022 381
2023 250
2024 173
2025 144
04 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 19 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional
74%
20
Cause undetermined
7%
2
Intentional / arson
0%
0
Equipment / heat source failure
0%
0
Under investigation
19%
5
Act of nature (lightning)
0%
0
05 The biggest fires

10 fires · $567K in losses

Largest single-incident property losses in Jackson County during 2025. These 10 fires alone account for 100% of the county's total.

#Property lossCityTypeSeverity
1 $350,000 Hoyt Building fires Major
2 $75,000 Holton Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire Significant
3 $50,000 Hoyt Building fires Significant
4 $30,000 Hoyt Fires in structures other than in a building Significant
5 $25,000 Mayetta Building fires Significant
6 $25,000 Hoyt Building fires Significant
7 $5,000 Mayetta Grass fire Significant
8 $2,500 HOYT Fires in structures other than in a building Significant
9 $2,500 Mayetta Passenger vehicle fire Significant
10 $1,650 Hoyt Cultivated grain or crop fire Significant
06 How Jackson County compares

Jackson County vs KS vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

26.38
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Jackson County
26.38
KS avg
9.66
US avg
7.15
3.48
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Jackson County
3.48
KS avg
0.99
US avg
0.82
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
Jackson County
0
KS avg
8.5
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in Jackson County

11 cities mapped to FIPS 20085.

08 First responders

Busiest fire departments in Jackson County

8 departments report from this county.

Potawatomi Tribal Fire Dept
Mayetta
FDID JA409 52 incidents 28 paid
Hoyt Fire Dist3
Hoyt
FDID JA406 47 incidents 20 vol
Delia Rural Fire District5
Delia
FDID JA302 16 incidents 11 vol
Holton Fire Department
Holton
FDID JA201 12 incidents 4 paid 48 vol
Netawaka Fire Dist6
Netawaka
FDID JA304 7 incidents 15 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.