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2025 County Report

Fires in Nowata County, OK

In 2025, fire departments serving Nowata County responded to 126 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $1.0M property loss. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as Moderate.

5,051 residents FIPS 40105 14 cities · 6 fire depts
Total incidents
126
1,067 across 5 years
Building fires
26
44 wildland
Property loss
$3.6M
$2.2M structure · $1.4M 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 71% of all calls.

126
Total Incidents
Grass fire 38 30.2%
Building fires 26 20.6%
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) 10 7.9%
Authorized controlled burning 10 7.9%
Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire 6 4.8%
All other categories 36 28.6%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in Nowata County?

Mar peaks. Dec dips.

Jan 16
Feb 9
Mar 33
Apr 14
May 8
Jun 9
Jul 10
Aug 16
Sep 4
Oct 4
Nov 2
Dec 1
03 Five-year trend

Year over year in Nowata County

1,067 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 179
2022 343
2023 207
2024 212
2025 126
04 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 26 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional
28%
8
Cause undetermined
45%
13
Intentional / arson
7%
2
Equipment / heat source failure
7%
2
Under investigation
14%
4
Act of nature (lightning)
-1%
0
05 The biggest fires

10 fires · $2.1M in losses

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

#Property lossCityTypeSeverity
1 $1,000,000 NOWATA Building fires Major
2 $300,000 DELAWARE Building fires Major
3 $200,000 Lenapah Building fires Significant
4 $160,000 Lenapah Building fires Significant
5 $150,000 LENAPAH Building fires Significant
6 $90,000 Lenapah Vehicle accident, general cleanup Significant
7 $80,000 NOWATA Road freight or transport vehicle fire Significant
8 $50,000 NOWATA Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other Significant
9 $40,000 Lenapah Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other Significant
10 $35,000 Lenapah Passenger vehicle fire Significant
06 How Nowata County compares

Nowata County vs OK vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

24.95
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Nowata County
24.95
OK avg
10.18
US avg
7.15
5.15
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Nowata County
5.15
OK avg
0.91
US avg
0.82
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
Nowata County
0
OK avg
6.6
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in Nowata County

12 cities mapped to FIPS 40105.

08 First responders

Busiest fire departments in Nowata County

6 departments report from this county.

Nowata
Nowata
FDID 53004 52 incidents 3 paid
Lenapah
Lenapah
FDID 53002 41 incidents 9 vol
South Coffeyville
South Coffeyville
FDID 53005 36 incidents 20 vol
Delaware
Delaware
FDID 53001 0 incidents 12 vol
Alluwe
Chelsea
FDID 53003 0 incidents 12 vol
09 Historical wildfires

Largest fires recorded in OK

Top 10 fire perimeters by acres burned (state-scoped fallback while we build out per-county polygons).

#NameYearAgencyAcres
1 West 60 2018 BIA 20,304
2 CANDY CREEK 2021 BIA 18,252
3 HWY 123 2023 BIA 17,220
4 RUSH 2024 FWS 12,461
5 NORTH DRUM 2023 BIA 11,486
6 ZINK 2023 BIA 11,286
7 Biggy 2018 BIA 10,360
8 Crater Creek 2015 FWS 9,769
9 ZINK 2024 BIA 8,101
10 JAVINE 2021 BIA 7,448

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.