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2025 County Report

Fires in Russell County, KS

In 2025, fire departments serving Russell County responded to 101 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $75K property loss. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as Moderate.

5,640 residents FIPS 20167 12 cities · 9 fire depts
Total incidents
101
659 across 5 years
Building fires
6
26 wildland
Property loss
$179K
$143K structure · $36K 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 51% of all calls.

101
Total Incidents
Grass fire 19 18.8%
Aircraft standby 14 13.9%
Unauthorized burning 7 6.9%
Building fires 6 5.9%
Passenger vehicle fire 6 5.9%
All other categories 49 48.5%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in Russell County?

Mar peaks. Oct dips.

Jan 3
Feb 9
Mar 22
Apr 14
May 12
Jun 9
Jul 10
Aug 7
Sep 5
Oct 0
Nov 3
Dec 7
03 Five-year trend

Year over year in Russell County

659 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 146
2022 134
2023 119
2024 159
2025 101
04 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 6 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional
39%
11
Cause undetermined
11%
3
Intentional / arson
7%
2
Equipment / heat source failure
36%
10
Under investigation
4%
1
Act of nature (lightning)
3%
1
05 The biggest fires

8 fires · $143K in losses

Largest single-incident property losses in Russell County during 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 100% of the county's total.

#Property lossCityTypeSeverity
1 $75,000 Russell Road freight or transport vehicle fire Significant
2 $20,000 Russell Building fires Significant
3 $20,000 Dorrance Passenger vehicle fire Significant
4 $12,000 Russell Building fires Significant
5 $5,000 Russell Passenger vehicle fire Significant
6 $5,000 Russell Cultivated vegetation, crop fire, other Significant
7 $5,000 Russell Building fires Significant
8 $1,000 Russell Passenger vehicle fire Significant
06 How Russell County compares

Russell County vs KS vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

17.91
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Russell County
17.91
KS avg
9.66
US avg
7.15
1.06
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Russell County
1.06
KS avg
0.99
US avg
0.82
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
Russell County
0
KS avg
8.5
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in Russell County

12 cities mapped to FIPS 20167.

08 First responders

Busiest fire departments in Russell County

9 departments report from this county.

Russell City Fire Department
Russell
FDID RS201 64 incidents 3 paid
Russell Co Fire Dist5
Bunker Hill
FDID RS408 18 incidents
WALDO FIRE DEPARTMENT
—
FDID RS306 10 incidents
Dorrance Fire District4
Dorrance
FDID RS302 3 incidents 3 paid
Gorham Fire Dist1
—
FDID RS303 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.