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2025 County Report

Fires in Miami County, KS

In 2025, fire departments serving Miami County responded to 300 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $495K property loss.

15,699 residents FIPS 20121 20 cities · 6 fire depts
Total incidents
300
1,738 across 5 years
Building fires
54
89 wildland
Property loss
$2.8M
$2.0M structure · $800K contents
Casualties
0 / 9
0 civ deaths · 5 civ inj · 4 FF inj
01 The mix

What kinds of fires happen here?

Building fires lead by count. Top five categories make up about 65% of all calls.

300
Total Incidents
Building fires 54 18.0%
Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire 41 13.7%
Grass fire 41 13.7%
Power line down 31 10.3%
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) 27 9.0%
All other categories 106 35.3%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in Miami County?

Mar peaks. Oct dips.

Jan 28
Feb 24
Mar 86
Apr 14
May 31
Jun 18
Jul 26
Aug 14
Sep 17
Oct 9
Nov 21
Dec 12
03 Five-year trend

Year over year in Miami County

1,738 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 278
2022 374
2023 373
2024 413
2025 300
04 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 54 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional
47%
59
Cause undetermined
22%
28
Intentional / arson
13%
17
Equipment / heat source failure
5%
6
Under investigation
1%
1
Act of nature (lightning)
12%
7
05 The biggest fires

10 fires · $1.7M in losses

Largest single-incident property losses in Miami County during 2025. These 10 fires alone account for 86% of the county's total.

#Property lossCityTypeSeverity
1 $495,000 Paola Building fires Major
2 $270,000 Paola Building fires Major
3 $250,000 Paola Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire Major
4 $169,550 Paola Building fires Significant
5 $125,000 Osawatomie Building fires Significant
6 $102,500 Paola Building fires Significant
7 $100,000 Osawatomie Building fires Significant
8 $75,000 Osawatomie Building fires Significant
9 $65,860 Paola Building fires Significant
10 $40,000 Osawatomie Building fires Significant
06 How Miami County compares

Miami County vs KS vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

19.11
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Miami County
19.11
KS avg
9.66
US avg
7.15
3.44
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Miami County
3.44
KS avg
0.99
US avg
0.82
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
Miami County
0
KS avg
8.5
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in Miami County

12 cities mapped to FIPS 20121.

08 First responders

Busiest fire departments in Miami County

6 departments report from this county.

PAOLA FIRE DEPARTMENT
—
FDID MI202 149 incidents
Osawatomie City Fire Departmen
Osawatomie
FDID MI201 110 incidents
FONTANA FIRE DEPARTMENT
—
FDID MI303 26 incidents
LOUISBURG FIRE DEPARTMENT
—
FDID MI304 0 incidents 1 paid
OSAWATOMIE STATE HOSPITAL
Osawatomie
FDID MI406 0 incidents 17 paid
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.