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2025 County Report

Fires in McPherson County, KS

In 2025, fire departments serving McPherson County responded to 202 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $450K property loss. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as High.

23,694 residents FIPS 20113 17 cities · 10 fire depts
Total incidents
202
1,401 across 5 years
Building fires
19
61 wildland
Property loss
$1.2M
$926K structure · $292K contents
Casualties
0 / 0
0 civ deaths · 0 civ inj · 0 FF inj
01 The mix

What kinds of fires happen here?

Grass fire lead by count. Top five categories make up about 52% of all calls.

202
Total Incidents
Grass fire 36 17.8%
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) 22 10.9%
Building fires 19 9.4%
Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire 17 8.4%
Power line down 12 5.9%
All other categories 96 47.5%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in McPherson County?

Mar peaks. Nov dips.

Jan 15
Feb 11
Mar 36
Apr 31
May 16
Jun 20
Jul 28
Aug 8
Sep 10
Oct 17
Nov 3
Dec 7
03 Five-year trend

Year over year in McPherson County

1,401 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 359
2022 248
2023 311
2024 281
2025 202
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
64%
47
Cause undetermined
14%
10
Intentional / arson
5%
4
Equipment / heat source failure
12%
9
Under investigation
4%
3
Act of nature (lightning)
1%
0
05 The biggest fires

10 fires · $877K in losses

Largest single-incident property losses in McPherson County during 2025. These 10 fires alone account for 95% of the county's total.

#Property lossCityTypeSeverity
1 $450,000 Moundridge Building fires Major
2 $135,000 Lindsborg Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire Significant
3 $80,000 McPhereson Hazardous condition, other Significant
4 $75,000 Lindsborg Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire Significant
5 $35,000 Moundridge Building fires Significant
6 $30,000 Moundridge Building fires Significant
7 $25,000 MCPHERSON Building fires Significant
8 $20,000 INMAN Passenger vehicle fire Significant
9 $15,000 Inman Cultivated grain or crop fire Significant
10 $12,000 Moundridge Passenger vehicle fire Significant
06 How McPherson County compares

McPherson County vs KS vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

8.53
Incidents per 1,000 residents
McPherson County
8.53
KS avg
9.66
US avg
7.15
0.8
Building fires per 1,000 residents
McPherson County
0.8
KS avg
0.99
US avg
0.82
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
McPherson County
0
KS avg
8.5
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in McPherson County

12 cities mapped to FIPS 20113.

08 First responders

Busiest fire departments in McPherson County

10 departments report from this county.

MCPHERSON FIRE DEPARTMENT
—
FDID MP202 68 incidents 17 paid
Lindsborg Fire
Lindsborg
FDID MP201 38 incidents
McPherson County Fire Dist5
—
FDID MP303 34 incidents
McPherson Co RFD7
Moundridge
FDID MP305 27 incidents
McPherson Co Fire Dist9
Galva
FDID MP413 15 incidents 35 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.