In 2025, fire departments serving American Fork responded to 174 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $400K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 56% of all calls.
Jun peaks. Feb dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
858 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $6.0M cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 164 | — | |
| 2022 | 165 | +0.6% | |
| 2023 | 182 | +10.3% | |
| 2024 | 173 | -4.9% | |
| 2025 | 174 | +0.6% |
For the 28 building fires American Fork departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 187 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 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 42 | 22.5% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 29 | 15.5% | |
| 3 | Cooking area, kitchen | 17 | 9.1% | |
| 4 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 17 | 9.1% | |
| 5 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 8 | 4.3% | |
| 6 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 7 | 3.7% | |
| 7 | Other | 6 | 3.2% | |
| 8 | Outside area, other | 6 | 3.2% | |
| 9 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 5 | 2.7% | |
| 10 | Cargo/trunk area - all vehicles | 5 | 2.7% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 45 | 24.1% |
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 American Fork mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 92 | 49.2% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 15 | 8.0% | |
| 3 | Hot ember or ash | 14 | 7.5% | |
| 4 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 13 | 7.0% | |
| 5 | Arcing | 13 | 7.0% | |
| 6 | Fireworks | 8 | 4.3% | |
| 7 | Cigarette lighter | 5 | 2.7% | |
| 8 | Heat source: other | 4 | 2.1% | |
| 9 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 4 | 2.1% | |
| 10 | Chemical reaction | 4 | 2.1% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 15 | 8.0% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by American Fork departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 94% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $400,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $200,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $40,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $25,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $25,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $20,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $10,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. American Fork sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
43 fire-related casualties recorded in NFIRS Module 11 across the 2021–2025 window. Age, gender, and severity are coarse-binned — no individual identification possible.
| Age | Count | |
|---|---|---|
| 0-9 | 0 | |
| 10-19 | 1 | |
| 20-29 | 13 | |
| 30-39 | 9 | |
| 40-49 | 16 | |
| 50-59 | 0 | |
| 60-69 | 0 | |
| 70-79 | 0 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 508,257 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 | 40.2 mi | |
| 2009 | Natural | 44,345 | 48.6 mi | |
| 2000 | Natural | 33,838 | 39.5 mi | |
| 2018 | Natural | 31,661 | 36.1 mi | |
| 2013 | Natural | 31,010 | 46.1 mi | |
| 1996 | Natural | 28,540 | 49.0 mi | |
| 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 25,456 | 45.6 mi | |
| 2012 | Natural | 22,045 | 42.0 mi | |
| 2018 | Natural | 18,620 | 35.1 mi | |
| 2000 | Natural | 16,116 | 49.0 mi | |
| 2016 | Natural | 15,330 | 45.5 mi | |
| 2007 | Natural | 14,293 | 46.0 mi |
Top 2 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
Six Utah cities with population within ±25% of American Fork. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in American Fork.
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.