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2025 County Report

Fires in Rush County, KS

In 2025, fire departments serving Rush County responded to 5 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $25K property loss. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as Moderate.

2,219 residents FIPS 20165 12 cities · 8 fire depts
Total incidents
5
111 across 5 years
Building fires
0
1 wildland
Property loss
$75K
$75K structure · $0 contents
Casualties
0 / 0
0 civ deaths · 0 civ inj · 0 FF inj
01 The mix

What kinds of fires happen here?

Chemical spill or leak lead by count. Top five categories make up about 100% of all calls.

5
Total Incidents
Chemical spill or leak 2 40.0%
Fire, other 1 20.0%
Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire 1 20.0%
Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire 1 20.0%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in Rush County?

Apr peaks. Jan dips.

Jan 0
Feb 0
Mar 0
Apr 2
May 0
Jun 1
Jul 1
Aug 1
Sep 0
Oct 0
Nov 0
Dec 0
03 Five-year trend

Year over year in Rush County

111 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 29
2022 44
2023 18
2024 15
2025 5
04 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 0 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional
0%
0
Cause undetermined
0%
0
Intentional / arson
0%
0
Equipment / heat source failure
100%
1
Under investigation
0%
0
Act of nature (lightning)
0%
0
05 The biggest fires

3 fires · $75K in losses

Largest single-incident property losses in Rush County during 2025. These 3 fires alone account for 100% of the county's total.

#Property lossCityTypeSeverity
1 $25,000 alexander Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire Significant
2 $25,000 alexander Chemical spill or leak Significant
3 $25,000 alexander Chemical spill or leak Significant
06 How Rush County compares

Rush County vs KS vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

2.25
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Rush County
2.25
KS avg
9.66
US avg
7.15
0
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Rush County
0
KS avg
0.99
US avg
0.82
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
Rush County
0
KS avg
8.5
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in Rush County

12 cities mapped to FIPS 20165.

08 First responders

Busiest fire departments in Rush County

8 departments report from this county.

Rush Co RFD1
Alexander
FDID RH409 4 incidents
Rush County Fire District4
La Crosse
FDID RH411 1 incidents 20 vol
RUSH CO FIRE DIST 6
—
FDID RH412 1 incidents 6 vol
RUSH CO FIRE DIST 5
—
FDID RH302 0 incidents 25 vol
RURAL FIRE DIST 7
—
FDID RH304 0 incidents 11 vol
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.