A national report indicates Kansas is one of the leading states for arson incidents.
Last year, there were 5,440 arson incident reports made to the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms (ATF). Kansas made up 6% of the nation’s arson reports with 307 cases. Kansas had the fifth most cases of incendiary fires in the U.S.
According to the U.S. Fire Administration, there were 293,396 fire reports in Kansas in 2023. The Kansas Bureau of Investigation (KBI) keeps track of the number of arson cases in Kansas. The bureau reports a downtrend in cases since 2020. Arson cases have steadily decreased in number from a peak of 574. The highest number of cases in the last decade happened in 2015 when there were 653 cases.
According to the Topeka Fire Department, the City of Topeka investigated 44 arson fires in 2023.