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In 2025, fire departments serving Breckenridge responded to 126 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $250 building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Flammable gas or liquid condition, other lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 75% of all calls.
Dec peaks. May dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
490 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $488K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 62 | — | |
| 2022 | 78 | +25.8% | |
| 2023 | 121 | +55.1% | |
| 2024 | 103 | -14.9% | |
| 2025 | 126 | +22.3% |
For the 7 building fires Breckenridge departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 50 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 | 15 | 30.0% | |
| 2 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 6 | 12.0% | |
| 3 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 3 | 6.0% | |
| 4 | Equipment or service area, other | 3 | 6.0% | |
| 5 | Undetermined | 3 | 6.0% | |
| 6 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 2 | 4.0% | |
| 7 | Exterior stairway, ramp, or fire escape | 1 | 2.0% | |
| 8 | Entrance way, lobby | 1 | 2.0% | |
| 9 | Function area, other | 1 | 2.0% | |
| 10 | Bathroom, checkroom, lavatory, locker room | 1 | 2.0% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 14 | 28.0% |
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 Breckenridge mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 9 | 18.0% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 6 | 12.0% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 6 | 12.0% | |
| 4 | Hot ember or ash | 5 | 10.0% | |
| 5 | Undetermined | 5 | 10.0% | |
| 6 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 4 | 8.0% | |
| 7 | Chemical reaction | 4 | 8.0% | |
| 8 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 3 | 6.0% | |
| 9 | Heat source: other | 2 | 4.0% | |
| 10 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 2 | 4.0% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 4 | 8.0% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Breckenridge departments in 2025. These 1 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $250 | Dumpster or other outside trash receptacle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Breckenridge sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 404,865 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | Recreation and ceremony | 193,812 | 49.7 mi | |
| 2002 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 137,760 | 45.7 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 14,833 | 24.3 mi | |
| 2018 | Natural | 13,023 | 30.7 mi | |
| 1996 | Recreation and ceremony | 11,875 | 39.2 mi | |
| 2000 | Smoking | 10,800 | 35.1 mi | |
| 2012 | Debris and open burning | 4,142 | 44.3 mi | |
| 2002 | Natural | 4,085 | 48.6 mi | |
| 2002 | Smoking | 2,312 | 28.1 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,570 | 45.3 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,452 | 43.5 mi | |
| 2018 | Natural | 1,322 | 21.7 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 Colorado cities with population within ±25% of Breckenridge. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
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.