In 2025, fire departments serving Black Canyon City responded to 44 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $70K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Passenger vehicle fire lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 68% of all calls.
Jan peaks. Sep dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
183 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $426K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 3 | — | |
| 2022 | 31 | — | |
| 2023 | 67 | +116.1% | |
| 2024 | 38 | -43.3% | |
| 2025 | 44 | +15.8% |
* Well below Black Canyon City's usual volume. That almost always means one or more departments didn't submit a full year to NFIRS, not that fires dropped, so no year-over-year change is shown for it.
For the 3 building fires Black Canyon City departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 88 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 | Undetermined | 35 | 39.8% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 16 | 18.2% | |
| 3 | Vehicle area, other | 12 | 13.6% | |
| 4 | Outside area, other | 4 | 4.5% | |
| 5 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 4 | 4.5% | |
| 6 | Other | 3 | 3.4% | |
| 7 | Cargo/trunk area - all vehicles | 3 | 3.4% | |
| 8 | Exterior, exposed surface | 2 | 2.3% | |
| 9 | Wildland, woods | 2 | 2.3% | |
| 10 | Storage area, other | 1 | 1.1% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 6 | 6.8% |
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 Black Canyon City mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 65 | 73.9% | |
| 2 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 7 | 8.0% | |
| 3 | Heat source: other | 5 | 5.7% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 4 | 4.5% | |
| 5 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 2 | 2.3% | |
| 6 | Lightning | 2 | 2.3% | |
| 7 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 1.1% | |
| 8 | Hot ember or ash | 1 | 1.1% | |
| 9 | Fireworks | 1 | 1.1% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Black Canyon City departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $70,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $10,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $8,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $5,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $5,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $2,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $100 | Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $1 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Black Canyon City sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 918,101 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | Natural | 248,310 | 18.3 mi | |
| 2020 | Equipment and vehicle use | 193,455 | 44.5 mi | |
| 2004 | Natural | 119,500 | 29.6 mi | |
| 2005 | Natural | 72,000 | 46.8 mi | |
| 2017 | Natural | 33,550 | 7.8 mi | |
| 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 28,516 | 24.4 mi | |
| 1995 | Natural | 24,505 | 32.7 mi | |
| 1995 | Natural | 22,092 | 32.0 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 17,618 | 38.2 mi | |
| 2012 | Other causes | 16,240 | 16.6 mi | |
| 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 14,534 | 26.6 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 14,476 | 21.7 mi |
Top 5 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
Six Arizona cities with population within ±25% of Black Canyon City. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Black Canyon City.
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.