In 2025, fire departments serving Blanding responded to 30 fire and hazmat incidents . Here's the full picture.
Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 67% of all calls.
Jul peaks. Nov dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
132 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 22 | — | |
| 2022 | 19 | -13.6% | |
| 2023 | 31 | +63.2% | |
| 2024 | 30 | -3.2% | |
| 2025 | 30 | +0.0% |
For the 1 building fires Blanding departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 79 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 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 27 | 34.2% | |
| 2 | Wildland, woods | 16 | 20.3% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 7 | 8.9% | |
| 4 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 5 | 6.3% | |
| 5 | Cooking area, kitchen | 3 | 3.8% | |
| 6 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 3 | 3.8% | |
| 7 | Courtyard, patio, porch, terrace | 3 | 3.8% | |
| 8 | Duct: hvac, cable, exhaust, heating, or AC | 2 | 2.5% | |
| 9 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 2 | 2.5% | |
| 10 | Entrance way, lobby | 1 | 1.3% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 10 | 12.7% |
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 Blanding mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lightning | 21 | 26.6% | |
| 2 | Match | 13 | 16.5% | |
| 3 | Hot ember or ash | 8 | 10.1% | |
| 4 | Fireworks | 6 | 7.6% | |
| 5 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 5 | 6.3% | |
| 6 | Arcing | 4 | 5.1% | |
| 7 | Cigarette lighter | 4 | 5.1% | |
| 8 | Molten, hot material | 3 | 3.8% | |
| 9 | Undetermined | 3 | 3.8% | |
| 10 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 2 | 2.5% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 10 | 12.7% |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Blanding sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 43,539 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | Natural | 7,300 | 43.2 mi | |
| 2019 | Natural | 3,904 | 20.4 mi | |
| 2002 | Natural | 3,800 | 12.1 mi | |
| 2003 | Recreation and ceremony | 2,710 | 24.3 mi | |
| 2019 | Natural | 2,560 | 45.8 mi | |
| 2006 | Natural | 2,500 | 14.2 mi | |
| 1998 | Natural | 2,455 | 28.9 mi | |
| 2009 | Natural | 2,400 | 46.2 mi | |
| 2002 | Recreation and ceremony | 2,354 | 9.9 mi | |
| 2018 | Natural | 1,424 | 48.6 mi | |
| 2009 | Natural | 1,320 | 25.1 mi | |
| 2019 | Natural | 1,120 | 21.7 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 | 84511 | 132 |
Six Utah cities with population within ±25% of Blanding. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Blanding.
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.