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2025 County Report

Fires in Osborne County, KS

In 2025, fire departments serving Osborne County responded to 5 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $40K property loss. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as Moderate.

2,752 residents FIPS 20141 11 cities · 5 fire depts
Total incidents
5
55 across 5 years
Building fires
3
2 wildland
Property loss
$100K
$40K structure · $60K contents
Casualties
0 / 0
0 civ deaths · 0 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 100% of all calls.

5
Total Incidents
Building fires 3 60.0%
Grass fire 2 40.0%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in Osborne County?

Jan peaks. Apr dips.

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

Year over year in Osborne County

55 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 18
2022 14
2023 10
2024 8
2025 5
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
33%
1
Cause undetermined
33%
1
Intentional / arson
0%
0
Equipment / heat source failure
33%
1
Under investigation
0%
0
Act of nature (lightning)
1%
0
05 The biggest fires

1 fires · $40K in losses

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

#Property lossCityTypeSeverity
1 $40,000 Alton Building fires Significant
06 How Osborne County compares

Osborne County vs KS vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

1.82
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Osborne County
1.82
KS avg
9.66
US avg
7.15
1.09
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Osborne County
1.09
KS avg
0.99
US avg
0.82
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
Osborne County
0
KS avg
8.5
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in Osborne County

11 cities mapped to FIPS 20141.

08 First responders

Busiest fire departments in Osborne County

5 departments report from this county.

Osborne Rural Fire District 3
Alton
FDID OB302 1 incidents 1 paid 1 vol
Downs Fire Department
Downs
FDID OB303 1 incidents
OSBORNE FIRE DEPARTMENT
—
FDID OB201 0 incidents
NATOMA FIRE DEPARTMENT
—
FDID OB304 0 incidents
Osborne Rural Fire Dept1
Osborne
FDID OB306 0 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.