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2025 County Report

Fires in Lyon County, KS

In 2025, fire departments serving Lyon County responded to 374 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $104K property loss. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as Very High.

27,133 residents FIPS 20111 13 cities · 8 fire depts
Total incidents
374
1,751 across 5 years
Building fires
43
88 wildland
Property loss
$1.1M
$773K structure · $360K contents
Casualties
2 / 1
2 civ deaths · 1 civ inj · 0 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 60% of all calls.

374
Total Incidents
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) 59 15.8%
Grass fire 51 13.6%
Power line down 45 12.0%
Building fires 43 11.5%
Passenger vehicle fire 28 7.5%
All other categories 148 39.6%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in Lyon County?

Mar peaks. Nov dips.

Jan 33
Feb 23
Mar 71
Apr 30
May 25
Jun 24
Jul 31
Aug 25
Sep 23
Oct 29
Nov 22
Dec 38
03 Five-year trend

Year over year in Lyon County

1,751 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 345
2022 306
2023 373
2024 353
2025 374
04 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 43 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional
43%
40
Cause undetermined
13%
12
Intentional / arson
5%
5
Equipment / heat source failure
8%
7
Under investigation
20%
18
Act of nature (lightning)
11%
5
05 The biggest fires

10 fires · $480K in losses

Largest single-incident property losses in Lyon County during 2025. These 10 fires alone account for 62% of the county's total.

#Property lossCityTypeSeverity
1 $103,600 Emporia Building fires Significant
2 $100,000 Emporia Building fires Significant
3 $65,900 Emporia Building fires Significant
4 $40,000 Emporia Building fires Significant
5 $40,000 Emporia Building fires Significant
6 $30,000 Emporia Building fires Significant
7 $30,000 Emporia Building fires Significant
8 $30,000 Admire Fire in mobile home used as fixed residence Significant
9 $20,000 Emporia Building fires Significant
10 $20,000 Hartford Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other Significant
06 How Lyon County compares

Lyon County vs KS vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

13.78
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Lyon County
13.78
KS avg
9.66
US avg
7.15
1.58
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Lyon County
1.58
KS avg
0.99
US avg
0.82
73.7
Civilian fire deaths per million
Lyon County
73.7
KS avg
8.5
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in Lyon County

12 cities mapped to FIPS 20111.

08 First responders

Busiest fire departments in Lyon County

8 departments report from this county.

EMPORIA FIRE DEPARTMENT
—
FDID LY101 303 incidents 52 paid 10 vol
LYON COUNTY FIRE DIST 5
—
FDID LY306 48 incidents 35 vol
Lyon County Fire Dist2
Admire
FDID LY303 16 incidents 21 vol
Miller Rural Fire Dept
Reading
FDID LY311 10 incidents 10 vol
Americus Fire Department
Americus
FDID LY304 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.