Home› Counties› KS› Pawnee County
2025 County Report

Fires in Pawnee County, KS

In 2025, fire departments serving Pawnee County responded to 16 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $45K property loss. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as Moderate.

3,797 residents FIPS 20145 12 cities · 5 fire depts
Total incidents
16
106 across 5 years
Building fires
3
5 wildland
Property loss
$55K
$45K structure · $10K 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 69% of all calls.

16
Total Incidents
Building fires 3 18.8%
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) 3 18.8%
Cooking fire, confined to container 2 12.5%
Forest, woods or wildland fire 2 12.5%
Fuel burner/boiler malfunction, fire confined 1 6.2%
All other categories 5 31.2%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in Pawnee County?

Apr peaks. May dips.

Jan 3
Feb 2
Mar 4
Apr 7
May 0
Jun 0
Jul 0
Aug 0
Sep 0
Oct 0
Nov 0
Dec 0
03 Five-year trend

Year over year in Pawnee County

106 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 19
2022 18
2023 26
2024 27
2025 16
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
44%
4
Cause undetermined
56%
5
Intentional / arson
0%
0
Equipment / heat source failure
0%
0
Under investigation
0%
0
Act of nature (lightning)
0%
0
05 The biggest fires

1 fires · $45K in losses

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

#Property lossCityTypeSeverity
1 $45,000 LARNED Passenger vehicle fire Significant
06 How Pawnee County compares

Pawnee County vs KS vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

4.21
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Pawnee County
4.21
KS avg
9.66
US avg
7.15
0.79
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Pawnee County
0.79
KS avg
0.99
US avg
0.82
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
Pawnee County
0
KS avg
8.5
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in Pawnee County

12 cities mapped to FIPS 20145.

08 First responders

Busiest fire departments in Pawnee County

5 departments report from this county.

Larned Fire Dept
Larned
FDID PN201 15 incidents
BURDETT FIRE DEPARTMENT
—
FDID PN302 0 incidents 13 vol
Garfield Fire Dept
Garfield
FDID PN303 0 incidents
Rozel Fire Dept
Rozel
FDID PN304 0 incidents 15 vol
LARNED STATE HOSPITAL FD
Larned
FDID PN405 0 incidents 18 paid
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.