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2025 County Report

Fires in Seward County, NE

In 2025, fire departments serving Seward County responded to 59 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $300 property loss. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as High.

13,107 residents FIPS 31159 13 cities · 11 fire depts
Total incidents
59
205 across 5 years
Building fires
7
17 wildland
Property loss
$500
$300 structure · $200 contents
Casualties
0 / 0
0 civ deaths · 0 civ inj · 0 FF inj
01 The mix

What kinds of fires happen here?

Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) lead by count. Top five categories make up about 56% of all calls.

59
Total Incidents
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) 12 20.3%
Building fires 7 11.9%
Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire 6 10.2%
Trash or rubbish fire, contained 4 6.8%
Forest, woods or wildland fire 4 6.8%
All other categories 26 44.1%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in Seward County?

May peaks. Feb dips.

Jan 4
Feb 1
Mar 7
Apr 8
May 9
Jun 6
Jul 7
Aug 4
Sep 2
Oct 3
Nov 4
Dec 4
03 Five-year trend

Year over year in Seward County

205 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 8
2022 47
2023 58
2024 33
2025 59
04 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 7 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional
87%
13
Cause undetermined
0%
0
Intentional / arson
0%
0
Equipment / heat source failure
7%
1
Under investigation
0%
0
Act of nature (lightning)
6%
1
05 The biggest fires

1 fires · $300 in losses

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

#Property lossCityTypeSeverity
1 $300 Pleasant Dalef Building fires Significant
06 How Seward County compares

Seward County vs NE vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

4.5
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Seward County
4.5
NE avg
5.67
US avg
7.15
0.53
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Seward County
0.53
NE avg
0.57
US avg
0.82
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
Seward County
0
NE avg
7
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in Seward County

12 cities mapped to FIPS 31159.

08 First responders

Busiest fire departments in Seward County

11 departments report from this county.

Seward Vol Fire Dept
SEWARD
FDID 16008 45 incidents 33 vol
Milford Vol Fire Dept
MILFORD
FDID 16006 10 incidents 42 vol
Staplehurst Vol Fire Dept
STAPLEHURST
FDID 16009 1 incidents 28 vol
Beaver Crossing Vol Fire Dept
BEAVER CROSSING
FDID 16001 0 incidents 21 vol
Bee Vol Fire Dept
BEE
FDID 16002 0 incidents 15 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.