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2025 County Report

Fires in Labette County, KS

In 2025, fire departments serving Labette County responded to 297 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $135K property loss.

14,429 residents FIPS 20099 21 cities · 12 fire depts
Total incidents
297
1,430 across 5 years
Building fires
79
65 wildland
Property loss
$1.2M
$890K structure · $268K contents
Casualties
0 / 2
0 civ deaths · 2 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 57% of all calls.

297
Total Incidents
Building fires 79 26.6%
Grass fire 29 9.8%
Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire 23 7.7%
Power line down 20 6.7%
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) 19 6.4%
All other categories 127 42.8%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in Labette County?

Mar peaks. Jan dips.

Jan 9
Feb 30
Mar 54
Apr 20
May 33
Jun 21
Jul 29
Aug 32
Sep 17
Oct 17
Nov 18
Dec 17
03 Five-year trend

Year over year in Labette County

1,430 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 176
2022 387
2023 236
2024 334
2025 297
04 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 79 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional
41%
52
Cause undetermined
23%
29
Intentional / arson
13%
16
Equipment / heat source failure
13%
17
Under investigation
6%
7
Act of nature (lightning)
4%
3
05 The biggest fires

10 fires · $595K in losses

Largest single-incident property losses in Labette County during 2025. These 10 fires alone account for 67% of the county's total.

#Property lossCityTypeSeverity
1 $135,390 Dennis Building fires Significant
2 $120,000 Chetopa Building fires Significant
3 $100,000 Dennis Building fires Significant
4 $50,000 OSWEGO Building fires Significant
5 $40,000 Oswego Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire Significant
6 $40,000 Altamont Building fires Significant
7 $30,000 Parsons Building fires Significant
8 $30,000 edna Building fires Significant
9 $25,000 OSWEGO Building fires Significant
10 $25,000 Chetopa Outside equipment fire Significant
06 How Labette County compares

Labette County vs KS vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

20.58
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Labette County
20.58
KS avg
9.66
US avg
7.15
5.48
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Labette County
5.48
KS avg
0.99
US avg
0.82
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
Labette County
0
KS avg
8.5
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in Labette County

12 cities mapped to FIPS 20099.

08 First responders

Busiest fire departments in Labette County

12 departments report from this county.

PARSONS FIRE DEPARTMENT
PARSONS
FDID LB101 129 incidents 19 paid
Chetopa Fire Department
Chetopa
FDID LB411 46 incidents 26 vol
OSWEGO FIRE DEPARTMENT
OSWEGO
FDID LB202 41 incidents
OSAGE TOWNSHIP FIRE DEPARTMENT
DENNIS
FDID LB412 19 incidents 8 vol
Altamont Fire Department
Altamont
FDID LB303 18 incidents 18 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.