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2025 County Report

Fires in Jewell County, KS

In 2025, fire departments serving Jewell County responded to 25 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $125K property loss. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as Moderate.

1,754 residents FIPS 20089 15 cities · 6 fire depts
Total incidents
25
183 across 5 years
Building fires
4
7 wildland
Property loss
$456K
$331K structure · $126K contents
Casualties
0 / 0
0 civ deaths · 0 civ inj · 0 FF inj
01 The mix

What kinds of fires happen here?

Building fires lead by count. Top five categories make up about 52% of all calls.

25
Total Incidents
Building fires 4 16.0%
Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire 3 12.0%
Cooking fire, confined to container 2 8.0%
Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other 2 8.0%
Passenger vehicle fire 2 8.0%
All other categories 12 48.0%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in Jewell County?

Feb peaks. May dips.

Jan 2
Feb 5
Mar 4
Apr 5
May 0
Jun 1
Jul 1
Aug 1
Sep 2
Oct 2
Nov 2
Dec 0
03 Five-year trend

Year over year in Jewell County

183 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 8
2022 61
2023 43
2024 46
2025 25
04 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 4 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional
60%
3
Cause undetermined
0%
0
Intentional / arson
0%
0
Equipment / heat source failure
40%
2
Under investigation
0%
0
Act of nature (lightning)
0%
0
05 The biggest fires

10 fires · $330K in losses

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

#Property lossCityTypeSeverity
1 $125,000 MANKATO Passenger vehicle fire Significant
2 $120,000 Burr Oak Fires in structures other than in a building Significant
3 $35,000 Mankato Road freight or transport vehicle fire Significant
4 $30,000 Jewell Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other Significant
5 $10,000 Mankato Building fires Significant
6 $5,000 Formoso Passenger vehicle fire Significant
7 $3,000 Jewell Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other Significant
8 $1,200 Mankato Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire Significant
9 $600 Mankato Outside storage fire Significant
10 $500 MANKATO Fuel burner/boiler malfunction, fire confined Significant
06 How Jewell County compares

Jewell County vs KS vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

14.25
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Jewell County
14.25
KS avg
9.66
US avg
7.15
2.28
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Jewell County
2.28
KS avg
0.99
US avg
0.82
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
Jewell County
0
KS avg
8.5
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in Jewell County

12 cities mapped to FIPS 20089.

08 First responders

Busiest fire departments in Jewell County

6 departments report from this county.

Mankato
Mankato
FDID JW305 15 incidents 18 vol
Jewell City and Rural
Jewell
FDID JW304 4 incidents 24 vol
FORMOSA VOL FIRE DEPARTMENT
—
FDID JW303 3 incidents 14 vol
Jewell County5
Burr Oak
FDID JW301 0 incidents 20 vol
RANDALL FIRE DEPARTMENT
—
FDID JW306 0 incidents 12 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.