In 2025, fire departments serving Phelps County responded to 31 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $260K property loss.
Grass fire lead by count. Top five categories make up about 65% of all calls.
Feb peaks. Mar dips.
120 incidents from 2021 through 2025.
| Year | Incidents | |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 12 | |
| 2022 | 33 | |
| 2023 | 19 | |
| 2024 | 25 | |
| 2025 | 31 |
For the 6 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.
Largest single-incident property losses in Phelps County during 2025. These 10 fires alone account for 100% of the county's total.
| # | Property loss | City | Type | Severity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $260,000 | Bertrand | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Major |
| 2 | $20,000 | HOLDREGE | Building fires | Significant |
| 3 | $15,000 | HOLDREGE | Building fires | Significant |
| 4 | $6,000 | Bertrand | Building fires | Significant |
| 5 | $5,000 | HOLDREGE | Building fires | Significant |
| 6 | $5,000 | HOLDREGE | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant |
| 7 | $1,375 | BERTRAND | Building fires | Significant |
| 8 | $1,000 | HOLDREGE | Cooking fire, confined to container | Significant |
| 9 | $1,000 | HOLDREGE | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant |
| 10 | $800 | HOLDREGE | Cooking fire, confined to container | Significant |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.
7 cities mapped to FIPS 31137.
3 departments report from this county.
Top 10 fire perimeters by acres burned (state-scoped fallback while we build out per-county polygons).
| # | Name | Year | Agency | Acres |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 |
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.