In 2025, fire departments serving Aurora responded to 42 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $50K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Grass fire lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 81% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Jun dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
185 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $3.2M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 28 | — | |
| 2022 | 40 | +42.9% | |
| 2023 | 34 | -15.0% | |
| 2024 | 41 | +20.6% | |
| 2025 | 42 | +2.4% |
For the 4 building fires Aurora departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 58 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 | 18 | 31.0% | |
| 2 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 10 | 17.2% | |
| 3 | Undetermined | 5 | 8.6% | |
| 4 | Cooking area, kitchen | 4 | 6.9% | |
| 5 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 3 | 5.2% | |
| 6 | Cargo/trunk area - all vehicles | 3 | 5.2% | |
| 7 | Courtyard, patio, porch, terrace | 3 | 5.2% | |
| 8 | Storage room, area, tank, or bin | 2 | 3.4% | |
| 9 | Wall surface: exterior | 2 | 3.4% | |
| 10 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 1 | 1.7% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 7 | 12.1% |
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 Aurora mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 15 | 25.9% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 13 | 22.4% | |
| 3 | Hot ember or ash | 7 | 12.1% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 6 | 10.3% | |
| 5 | Heat, spark from friction | 5 | 8.6% | |
| 6 | Conducted heat from another fire | 3 | 5.2% | |
| 7 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 2 | 3.4% | |
| 8 | Molten, hot material | 2 | 3.4% | |
| 9 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 2 | 3.4% | |
| 10 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 1 | 1.7% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 2 | 3.4% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Aurora departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $10,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $5,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $5,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $3,500 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $2,500 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $1,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $500 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Aurora sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 8,517 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | Debris and open burning | 3,500 | 26.0 mi | |
| 2020 | Smoking | 660 | 49.5 mi | |
| 2017 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 408 | 25.7 mi | |
| 1996 | Debris and open burning | 350 | 28.6 mi | |
| 2011 | Smoking | 320 | 38.1 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 300 | 10.1 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 250 | 39.1 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 250 | 45.6 mi | |
| 2011 | Debris and open burning | 250 | 46.3 mi | |
| 2002 | Debris and open burning | 198 | 40.8 mi | |
| 2020 | Debris and open burning | 187 | 36.1 mi | |
| 2011 | Equipment and vehicle use | 162 | 49.3 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 | 68818 | 185 |
Six Nebraska cities with population within ±25% of Aurora. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Aurora.
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.