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2025 County Report

Fires in Montgomery County, KS

In 2025, fire departments serving Montgomery County responded to 567 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $200K property loss. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as High.

22,240 residents FIPS 20125 19 cities · 7 fire depts
Total incidents
567
2,844 across 5 years
Building fires
82
131 wildland
Property loss
$2.0M
$1.4M structure · $669K contents
Casualties
1 / 1
1 civ deaths · 1 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 53% of all calls.

567
Total Incidents
Building fires 82 14.5%
Grass fire 79 13.9%
Power line down 56 9.9%
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) 44 7.8%
Authorized controlled burning 39 6.9%
All other categories 267 47.1%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in Montgomery County?

Mar peaks. Dec dips.

Jan 46
Feb 42
Mar 137
Apr 53
May 50
Jun 39
Jul 50
Aug 46
Sep 25
Oct 35
Nov 30
Dec 14
03 Five-year trend

Year over year in Montgomery County

2,844 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 359
2022 856
2023 481
2024 581
2025 567
04 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 82 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional
55%
82
Cause undetermined
18%
27
Intentional / arson
11%
17
Equipment / heat source failure
4%
6
Under investigation
7%
11
Act of nature (lightning)
5%
5
05 The biggest fires

10 fires · $867K in losses

Largest single-incident property losses in Montgomery County during 2025. These 10 fires alone account for 64% of the county's total.

#Property lossCityTypeSeverity
1 $200,000 Independence Building fires Significant
2 $150,000 Coffeyville Building fires Significant
3 $100,000 Caney Building fires Significant
4 $100,000 Coffeyville Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire Significant
5 $86,690 Dearing Building fires Significant
6 $50,000 Coffeyville Building fires Significant
7 $50,000 Coffeyville Building fires Significant
8 $50,000 Tyro Building fires Significant
9 $45,000 Coffeyville Passenger vehicle fire Significant
10 $35,000 Independence Building fires Significant
06 How Montgomery County compares

Montgomery County vs KS vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

25.49
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Montgomery County
25.49
KS avg
9.66
US avg
7.15
3.69
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Montgomery County
3.69
KS avg
0.99
US avg
0.82
45
Civilian fire deaths per million
Montgomery County
45
KS avg
8.5
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in Montgomery County

12 cities mapped to FIPS 20125.

08 First responders

Busiest fire departments in Montgomery County

7 departments report from this county.

MG County Rural Fire
sycamore
FDID MG400 206 incidents
COFFEYVILLE FIRE DEPARTMENT
—
FDID MG101 154 incidents 19 paid
INDEPENDENCE FIRE DEPARTMENT
—
FDID MG203 114 incidents 16 paid
Cherryvale FireRescue
Cherryvale
FDID MG204 45 incidents 7 paid 19 vol
ELK CITY FIRE DEPARTMENT
—
FDID MG306 23 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.