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In 2025, fire departments serving Aspen responded to 146 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $500K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Carbon monoxide incident lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 73% of all calls.
Nov peaks. Oct dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
817 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2021. $821K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 222 | — | |
| 2022 | 144 | -35.1% | |
| 2023 | 163 | +13.2% | |
| 2024 | 142 | -12.9% | |
| 2025 | 146 | +2.8% |
For the 6 building fires Aspen departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 81 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 | Cooking area, kitchen | 11 | 13.6% | |
| 2 | Other | 8 | 9.9% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 8 | 9.9% | |
| 4 | Outside area, other | 8 | 9.9% | |
| 5 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 6 | 7.4% | |
| 6 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 3 | 3.7% | |
| 7 | Vehicle area, other | 3 | 3.7% | |
| 8 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 3 | 3.7% | |
| 9 | Wildland, woods | 3 | 3.7% | |
| 10 | Undetermined | 3 | 3.7% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 25 | 30.9% |
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 Aspen mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 20 | 24.7% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 11 | 13.6% | |
| 3 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 10 | 12.3% | |
| 4 | Heat source: other | 9 | 11.1% | |
| 5 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 6 | 7.4% | |
| 6 | Hot ember or ash | 6 | 7.4% | |
| 7 | Chemical reaction | 5 | 6.2% | |
| 8 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 4 | 4.9% | |
| 9 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 2 | 2.5% | |
| 10 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 2 | 2.5% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 6 | 7.4% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Aspen departments in 2025. These 7 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $500,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $150,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $50,000 | Dumpster or other outside trash receptacle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $10,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $5,000 | Chimney or flue fire, confined to chimney or flue | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $5,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Aspen sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 90,227 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 32,431 | 34.6 mi | |
| 2002 | Natural | 13,493 | 48.7 mi | |
| 2018 | Natural | 13,023 | 42.3 mi | |
| 2002 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 12,209 | 39.5 mi | |
| 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 3,070 | 15.5 mi | |
| 2002 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,400 | 23.1 mi | |
| 1994 | Natural | 2,115 | 40.2 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,452 | 31.3 mi | |
| 2007 | Natural | 1,240 | 43.0 mi | |
| 2003 | Misuse of fire by a minor | 1,232 | 33.8 mi | |
| 2002 | Natural | 1,084 | 41.3 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,000 | 22.4 mi |
Top 3 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
Six Colorado cities with population within ±25% of Aspen. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
2 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Aspen.
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.