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2025 County Report

Fires in Otoe County, NE

In 2025, fire departments serving Otoe County responded to 78 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $10K property loss. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as High.

11,551 residents FIPS 31131 16 cities · 8 fire depts
Total incidents
78
390 across 5 years
Building fires
4
36 wildland
Property loss
$45K
$29K structure · $17K 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 54% of all calls.

78
Total Incidents
Grass fire 11 14.1%
Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire 10 12.8%
Trash or rubbish fire, contained 7 9.0%
Natural vegetation fire, other 7 9.0%
Cultivated vegetation, crop fire, other 7 9.0%
All other categories 36 46.2%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in Otoe County?

Feb peaks. Dec dips.

Jan 9
Feb 22
Mar 16
Apr 3
May 11
Jun 3
Jul 6
Aug 3
Sep 3
Oct 1
Nov 1
Dec 0
03 Five-year trend

Year over year in Otoe County

390 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 48
2022 109
2023 110
2024 45
2025 78
04 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 4 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional
38%
8
Cause undetermined
24%
5
Intentional / arson
14%
3
Equipment / heat source failure
14%
3
Under investigation
10%
2
Act of nature (lightning)
0%
0
05 The biggest fires

7 fires · $29K in losses

Largest single-incident property losses in Otoe County during 2025. These 7 fires alone account for 100% of the county's total.

#Property lossCityTypeSeverity
1 $10,000 Douglas Building fires Significant
2 $10,000 syracuse Building fires Significant
3 $5,000 s Fire, other Significant
4 $2,500 syracuse Road freight or transport vehicle fire Significant
5 $1,000 Douglas Grass fire Significant
6 $100 Douglas Fire in motor home, camper, recreational vehicle Significant
7 $50 syracuse Fire, other Significant
06 How Otoe County compares

Otoe County vs NE vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

6.75
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Otoe County
6.75
NE avg
5.67
US avg
7.15
0.35
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Otoe County
0.35
NE avg
0.57
US avg
0.82
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
Otoe County
0
NE avg
7
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in Otoe County

12 cities mapped to FIPS 31131.

08 First responders

Busiest fire departments in Otoe County

8 departments report from this county.

Syracuse Vol Fire Dept
SYRACUSE
FDID 11007 29 incidents 35 vol
Douglas Vol Fire Dept
Douglas
FDID 11002 25 incidents 24 vol
Unadilla Vol Fire Rescue
Unadilla
FDID 11009 14 incidents 23 vol
Nebraska City Vol Fire Dept
Nebraska City
FDID 11004 12 incidents 3 paid 44 vol
Talmage Community Fire Dept
Talmage
FDID 11008 3 incidents 22 vol
09 Historical wildfires

Largest fires recorded in NE

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

#NameYearAgencyAcres
1 West Ash 2012 USFS 56,470
2 POWDERHORN 2000 USFS 45,765
3 Bovee 2022 USFS 18,875
4 Spotted Tail #3 2006 USFS 17,928
5 Plum 1965 USFS 13,235
6 Roberts Tract 2006 USFS 9,929
7 Hay Canyon 2012 USFS 9,882
8 Good Friday 1995 USFS 6,853
9 Red Kate 2019 FWS 5,035
10 Coffee 1987 USFS 4,836

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.