Burns, Kansas
12 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1898 and the latest in 1985. It stands in Milton Township. It lies in ZIP code area 66840. The Survey maps it on the Burns quadrangle. 234 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 1,499 feet above sea level.
On record in Burns
Buildings and businesses the archive holds for this place. Each opens its own page, with the source record it came from.
On the National Register 2 records
Burns Union Schoollisted 1975- Keystone Ranchlisted 2017
Population over time
2 figuresBurns grew from 228 to 234 between 2010 and 2020. These are the recorded population figures Wikidata holds for this place, reached through the Geographic Names Information System number this page is keyed on rather than by name, so they belong to this place and not to another of the same name. Most are census counts, but not all are: an early figure may be a founding or settlement estimate, and an estimate published within five years of a census is left out. The change column is computed, and is left blank where more than 20 years separate a figure from the one before it, because a gap that long is not a change between two counts.
| Year | People | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 228 | |
| 2020 | 234 | +6 (+3%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
5 surveys from 12 printed sheetsMatched by testing this settlement's coordinate against the published boundary of every sheet in the United States Geological Survey's historical collection. Each opens the scanned sheet at the Survey.
- 1898 USGS Cottonwood Falls quadrangle1:125000, 4 printings
- 1955 USGS Hutchinson quadrangle1:250000, 3 printings
- 1959 USGS Hutchinson quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1962 USGS Burns quadrangle1:24000
- 1985 USGS Emporia quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
Fires near this place
10 since 2016Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 10 fires within 5 miles of Burns between 2016 and 2020, burning about 442 acres in total. None started naturally. None was recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.
| Reported cause | Fires |
|---|---|
| Debris and open burning | 4 |
| Smoking | 2 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 2 |
| Power generation/transmission/distribution | 1 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 1 |
The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.
| Date | Cause | Size | Reported by | Name on the report |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 14 June 2018 | Equipment and vehicle use | 1.0 acres | Kansas Forest Service | 1839 |
| 9 April 2020 | Recreation and ceremony | 90 acres | Kansas Forest Service | not named |
| 14 April 2020 | Recreation and ceremony | 220 acres | Kansas Forest Service | not named |
| 5 March 2020 | Smoking | 85 acres | Kansas Forest Service | not named |
| 2 March 2017 | Debris and open burning | 2.0 acres | Butler County | 1707 |
| 15 March 2018 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 40 acres | Kansas Forest Service | 389 |
| 6 February 2016 | Debris and open burning | 1.0 acres | Kansas Forest Service | 1608 |
| 4 February 2016 | Debris and open burning | 1.0 acres | Kansas Forest Service | 1617 |
Storms near this place
53 since 1996Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Burns in 53 storm reports between 1996 and 2026: 25 thunderstorm wind, 22 hail, 4 tornado, 2 flash flood. No death or injury is recorded in these reports. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.
| When | Event | Place named | Harm | What the report says |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| April 2009 | Thunderstorm Wind | Burns | $50,000 | Strong winds inflicted roof damage to both a residence and the Morton building. Some structural damage occurred to outbuildings, and some farm equipment was moved around. |
| May 2003 | Tornado (F0) | Burns | $50,000 | Trees uprooted, one of which possessed a 36 inch diameter trunk, and a second that fell onto a house. Power lines downed. Power poles leaning sharply. One out-building partially unroofed, with effected section of roof impaled into nearby building. |
| September 2000 | Thunderstorm Wind | Burns | $50,000 | At one residence, a 24 by 24 foot shed was blown over, one car damaged when a tree fell onto it, and shingles were blown off the roof of the house. A second house that was unconstruction sustained significant damage when when all but the south wall of the second floor were blown down and debris from construction material was blown about the area. A 3rd residence sustained damage when a tree fell through an upstairs bedroom wall. Several trees and power lines were blown down around the town. Area newspapers contributed to this report. |
| April 2011 | Hail | Burns | $32,500 | Multiple residences had windows broken out of their homes from ping pong ball to golfbal size hail. The hail lasted almost 10 minutes. |
| June 2001 | Thunderstorm Wind | Burns | $25,000 | Barn blown down. |
| May 2008 | Hail | Burns | $5,000 | Golf ballsized hail broke several windows out of a home. |
| May 2003 | Thunderstorm Wind | Burns | $5,000 | Power lines downed. |
| June 2009 | Thunderstorm Wind | Burns | $500 | Small tree limbs were knocked down. |
| April 2010 | Flash Flood | Burns | $100 | Five inches of rain caused a creek to come out of its banks. |
| April 2026 | Tornado (EFU) | Burns | - | A brief landspout tornado was reported northwest of Burns. |
| May 2025 | Thunderstorm Wind | Burns | - | Up to 8-inch diameter tree limbs were downed, and a lean-to was knocked down. |
| July 2025 | Thunderstorm Wind | Burns | - | There were also 8 to 10 inch tree limbs reported down as well. |
| May 2024 | Thunderstorm Wind | Burns | - | Winds were estimated to be around 70 mph. |
| May 2024 | Tornado (EF1) | Burns | - | Damage occurred to a few farm outbuildings along with trees. During the survey, swirls were observed in the brome and tree damage. There was debris collected in the trees too. |
| July 2024 | Thunderstorm Wind | Burns | - | Butler County Fire Department reported an estimated 70 mph winds and power out in Burns. |
| August 2023 | Thunderstorm Wind | Burns | - | Numerous power outages. |
| August 2023 | Thunderstorm Wind | Burns | - | Power lines down. |
| July 2023 | Thunderstorm Wind | Burns | - | This was an estimated wind gust. |
| July 2023 | Hail | Burns | - | There was nickel to quarter sized hail at 40th and Highway 77 north of Burns. |
| May 2019 | Hail | Burns | - | Gusts estimated at 52 knots/60 mph also occurred. |
| May 2019 | Thunderstorm Wind | Burns | - | Quarter-sized hail also occurred. |
| June 2017 | Thunderstorm Wind | Burns | - | This was reported along the county line. |
| July 2013 | Flash Flood | Burns | - | Most roads were flooded, several of which were closed across the entire county. |
| June 2011 | Thunderstorm Wind | Burns | - | Estimated gust reported by a trained spotter. |
| June 2011 | Thunderstorm Wind | Burns | - | Estimated gust reported by a trained spotter. |
| June 2011 | Thunderstorm Wind | Burns | - | Estimated gust reported by a trained spotter. |
| August 2011 | Thunderstorm Wind | Burns | - | Minor damage to trees. |
| April 2011 | Thunderstorm Wind | Burns | - | The winds were accompanied by ping pong ball hail. |
| June 2009 | Thunderstorm Wind | Burns | - | Winds estimated by a trained spotter. |
| April 2009 | Tornado (EF0) | Burns | - | A Channel 10 viewer reported a brief tornado touchdown in an open field. |
| August 1999 | Thunderstorm Wind | Burns | - | Also reported by emergency manager. |
| April 2026 | Hail | Burns | - | no account filed |
| April 2022 | Thunderstorm Wind | Burns | - | no account filed |
| May 2020 | Hail | Burns | - | no account filed |
| May 2018 | Hail | Burns | - | no account filed |
| May 2017 | Hail | Burns | - | no account filed |
| April 2015 | Thunderstorm Wind | Burns | - | no account filed |
| April 2011 | Hail | Burns | - | no account filed |
| April 2011 | Hail | Burns | - | no account filed |
| April 2011 | Hail | Burns | - | no account filed |
| June 2010 | Hail | Burns | - | no account filed |
| April 2010 | Hail | Burns | - | no account filed |
| April 2010 | Hail | Burns | - | no account filed |
| May 2010 | Hail | Burns | - | no account filed |
| May 2008 | Hail | Burns | - | no account filed |
| May 2003 | Hail | Burns | - | no account filed |
| July 2002 | Hail | Burns | - | no account filed |
| August 2001 | Thunderstorm Wind | Burns | - | no account filed |
| August 2001 | Hail | Burns | - | no account filed |
| August 1999 | Hail | Burns | - | no account filed |
| May 1997 | Hail | Burns | - | no account filed |
| September 1997 | Thunderstorm Wind | Burns | - | no account filed |
| May 1996 | Hail | Burns | - | no account filed |
Nearest settlements
The eight closest, with where each one stands in the county. Distances are straight-line, computed from the Geographic Names Information System coordinates.
Elsewhere
Matched on this settlement's Geographic Names Information System number rather than its name, so it cannot be a different place of the same name in another state.
| Wikipedia article on Burns | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q2666594 | The structured record the population and elevation above come from. Public domain (CC0). |
Provenance
This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 478038. The sheet list is computed by point-in-boundary test against the United States Geological Survey's historical topographic inventory. Both are works of the United States government and carry no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.
Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.
Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.




