In 2025, fire departments serving Alpine responded to 38 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $60K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Authorized controlled burning lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 66% of all calls.
Apr peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
229 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $508K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 50 | — | |
| 2022 | 39 | -22.0% | |
| 2023 | 51 | +30.8% | |
| 2024 | 51 | +0.0% | |
| 2025 | 38 | -25.5% |
For the 1 building fires Alpine departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 24 building fires investigators classified across 2021–2025. The room or location where ignition occurred — kitchens, bedrooms, exterior, vehicle areas — tells you where to focus prevention.
| # | Area of origin | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Outside area, other | 5 | 20.8% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 4 | 16.7% | |
| 3 | Other | 2 | 8.3% | |
| 4 | Exterior, exposed surface | 2 | 8.3% | |
| 5 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 2 | 8.3% | |
| 6 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 2 | 8.3% | |
| 7 | Cooking area, kitchen | 1 | 4.2% | |
| 8 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 1 | 4.2% | |
| 9 | Attic: vacant, crawl space above top story, cupola | 1 | 4.2% | |
| 10 | Wall surface: exterior | 1 | 4.2% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 3 | 12.5% |
NFIRS Heat Source (HEAT_SOURC) — the physical thing that started it. Spark or ember from operating equipment, an open flame, smoking materials, or hot embers from a fireplace are the leading culprits nationwide. Here's the Alpine mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 9 | 37.5% | |
| 2 | Heat source: other | 3 | 12.5% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 3 | 12.5% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 2 | 8.3% | |
| 5 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 2 | 8.3% | |
| 6 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 1 | 4.2% | |
| 7 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 1 | 4.2% | |
| 8 | Heat from undetermined smoking material | 1 | 4.2% | |
| 9 | Radiated heat from another fire | 1 | 4.2% | |
| 10 | Conducted heat from another fire | 1 | 4.2% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Alpine departments in 2025. These 2 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $60,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $25,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Alpine sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 452,181 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | Natural | 102,191 | 45.8 mi | |
| 2009 | Natural | 44,345 | 48.1 mi | |
| 2000 | Natural | 33,838 | 45.4 mi | |
| 2018 | Natural | 31,661 | 40.4 mi | |
| 2013 | Natural | 31,010 | 48.0 mi | |
| 2012 | Natural | 22,045 | 45.3 mi | |
| 2018 | Natural | 18,620 | 40.8 mi | |
| 2000 | Natural | 16,116 | 46.8 mi | |
| 2016 | Natural | 15,330 | 41.2 mi | |
| 2007 | Natural | 14,293 | 44.8 mi | |
| 1998 | Natural | 13,926 | 32.2 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 12,584 | 19.1 mi |
Top 1 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
| # | ZIP | 5-yr incidents | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 84004 | 229 |
Six Utah cities with population within ±25% of Alpine. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
A 30-minute weekend can cut your home's exposure substantially. These four checklists are a good starting point.
Numbers reflect incidents reported by participating fire departments to the National Fire Incident Reporting System (NFIRS) Public Data Release for calendar year 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. Per-capita comparisons use 2023 ACS population estimates. Wildland fire data complements NFIRS with NIFC and USFS perimeters. Active-fire counts come from a dated NIFC snapshot, not a live feed.