In 2025, fire departments serving Aurora responded to 24 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $100 building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Hazardous condition, other lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 88% of all calls.
Mar peaks. May dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
66 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $100 cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 8 | — | |
| 2022 | 12 | +50.0% | |
| 2023 | 13 | +8.3% | |
| 2024 | 9 | -30.8% | |
| 2025 | 24 | +166.7% |
For the 0 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 4 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 | Other | 2 | 50.0% | |
| 2 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 1 | 25.0% | |
| 3 | Bedroom - 5+ persons; including barrack/dormitory | 1 | 25.0% |
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 | Heat source: other | 3 | 75.0% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 1 | 25.0% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Aurora departments in 2025. These 1 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $100 | Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Aurora sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 740 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1997 | Debris and open burning | 92 | 48.7 mi | |
| 2006 | Debris and open burning | 88 | 43.0 mi | |
| 2020 | Debris and open burning | 72 | 45.2 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 50 | 44.0 mi | |
| 2020 | Equipment and vehicle use | 48 | 44.4 mi | |
| 1994 | Debris and open burning | 44 | 38.8 mi | |
| 2020 | Debris and open burning | 42 | 45.4 mi | |
| 1999 | Debris and open burning | 30 | 45.4 mi | |
| 1995 | Smoking | 25 | 25.7 mi | |
| 2015 | Arson/incendiarism | 23 | 42.6 mi | |
| 1997 | Arson/incendiarism | 20 | 45.4 mi | |
| 1999 | Debris and open burning | 20 | 39.7 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 New York 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.