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2025 County Report

Fires in Washington County, KS

In 2025, fire departments serving Washington County responded to 57 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $5K property loss. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as High.

3,607 residents FIPS 20201 19 cities · 12 fire depts
Total incidents
57
376 across 5 years
Building fires
9
23 wildland
Property loss
$8K
$7K structure · $500 contents
Casualties
0 / 0
0 civ deaths · 0 civ inj · 0 FF inj
01 The mix

What kinds of fires happen here?

Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire lead by count. Top five categories make up about 79% of all calls.

57
Total Incidents
Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire 15 26.3%
Building fires 9 15.8%
Aircraft standby 9 15.8%
Grass fire 8 14.0%
Authorized controlled burning 4 7.0%
All other categories 12 21.1%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in Washington County?

Mar peaks. Nov dips.

Jan 2
Feb 3
Mar 12
Apr 8
May 5
Jun 3
Jul 7
Aug 5
Sep 5
Oct 5
Nov 0
Dec 2
03 Five-year trend

Year over year in Washington County

376 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 63
2022 68
2023 129
2024 59
2025 57
04 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 9 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional
58%
7
Cause undetermined
8%
1
Intentional / arson
0%
0
Equipment / heat source failure
25%
3
Under investigation
0%
0
Act of nature (lightning)
9%
1
05 The biggest fires

2 fires · $7K in losses

Largest single-incident property losses in Washington County during 2025. These 2 fires alone account for 100% of the county's total.

#Property lossCityTypeSeverity
1 $5,000 Hanover Passenger vehicle fire Significant
2 $2,000 Hanover Building fires Significant
06 How Washington County compares

Washington County vs KS vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

15.8
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Washington County
15.8
KS avg
9.66
US avg
7.15
2.5
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Washington County
2.5
KS avg
0.99
US avg
0.82
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
Washington County
0
KS avg
8.5
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in Washington County

12 cities mapped to FIPS 20201.

08 First responders

Busiest fire departments in Washington County

12 departments report from this county.

Washington Co Fire Dist9
Washington
FDID WS409 20 incidents 16 vol
Clifton Vol Fire Dept
Clifton
FDID WS310 11 incidents 15 vol
LinnPalmer Fire Dist4
Palmer
FDID WS404 10 incidents 5 vol
Washington Fire Dept
Washington
FDID WS301 9 incidents 16 vol
HANOVER FIRE DEPARTMENT
—
FDID WS306 6 incidents 30 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.