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2025 County Report

Fires in Mitchell County, KS

In 2025, fire departments serving Mitchell County responded to 20 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $10K property loss.

4,483 residents FIPS 20123 11 cities · 8 fire depts
Total incidents
20
197 across 5 years
Building fires
3
11 wildland
Property loss
$20K
$10K structure · $10K 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 75% of all calls.

20
Total Incidents
Grass fire 4 20.0%
Building fires 3 15.0%
Fire in mobile home used as fixed residence 3 15.0%
Cultivated vegetation, crop fire, other 3 15.0%
Natural vegetation fire, other 2 10.0%
All other categories 5 25.0%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in Mitchell County?

Mar peaks. Jan dips.

Jan 0
Feb 1
Mar 6
Apr 4
May 3
Jun 3
Jul 1
Aug 0
Sep 0
Oct 0
Nov 1
Dec 1
03 Five-year trend

Year over year in Mitchell County

197 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 52
2022 54
2023 37
2024 34
2025 20
04 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 3 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional
50%
3
Cause undetermined
33%
2
Intentional / arson
0%
0
Equipment / heat source failure
0%
0
Under investigation
0%
0
Act of nature (lightning)
17%
1
05 The biggest fires

1 fires · $10K in losses

Largest single-incident property losses in Mitchell County during 2025. These 1 fires alone account for 100% of the county's total.

#Property lossCityTypeSeverity
1 $10,000 Glen Elder Fire, other Significant
06 How Mitchell County compares

Mitchell County vs KS vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

4.46
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Mitchell County
4.46
KS avg
9.66
US avg
7.15
0.67
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Mitchell County
0.67
KS avg
0.99
US avg
0.82
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
Mitchell County
0
KS avg
8.5
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in Mitchell County

11 cities mapped to FIPS 20123.

08 First responders

Busiest fire departments in Mitchell County

8 departments report from this county.

Mitchell Co Fire Dist3
—
FDID MC410 13 incidents 46 vol
Cawker City Fire Dept
Cawker City
FDID MC302 2 incidents 9 vol
GLEN ELDER FIRE DEPARTMENT
—
FDID MC303 2 incidents
Tipton Rural Fire Dept
Tipton
FDID MC412 2 incidents 17 vol
MCO Rural Fire Dist1
Beloit
FDID MC409 1 incidents
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.