In 2025, fire departments serving Castle Rock responded to 107 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $500K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Building fires lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 52% of all calls.
Sep peaks. Feb dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
501 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2021. $4.6M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 107 | — | |
| 2022 | 100 | -6.5% | |
| 2023 | 103 | +3.0% | |
| 2024 | 84 | -18.4% | |
| 2025 | 107 | +27.4% |
For the 20 building fires Castle Rock departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 214 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 | 53 | 24.8% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 44 | 20.6% | |
| 3 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 13 | 6.1% | |
| 4 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 12 | 5.6% | |
| 5 | Outside area, other | 12 | 5.6% | |
| 6 | Other | 9 | 4.2% | |
| 7 | Vehicle area, other | 8 | 3.7% | |
| 8 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 8 | 3.7% | |
| 9 | Cooking area, kitchen | 6 | 2.8% | |
| 10 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 5 | 2.3% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 44 | 20.6% |
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 Castle Rock mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 109 | 50.9% | |
| 2 | Heat source: other | 35 | 16.4% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 16 | 7.5% | |
| 4 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 12 | 5.6% | |
| 5 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 6 | 2.8% | |
| 6 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 5 | 2.3% | |
| 7 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 4 | 1.9% | |
| 8 | Heat, spark from friction | 3 | 1.4% | |
| 9 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 3 | 1.4% | |
| 10 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 3 | 1.4% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 18 | 8.4% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Castle Rock departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $500,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $200,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $120,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $5,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $5,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $2,500 | Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Castle Rock sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 3,202 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 384 | 38.9 mi | |
| 2015 | Natural | 359 | 45.1 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 268 | 43.1 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 175 | 23.2 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 166 | 43.7 mi | |
| 1998 | Recreation and ceremony | 140 | 43.5 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 127 | 28.9 mi | |
| 2010 | Recreation and ceremony | 110 | 48.9 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 110 | 26.4 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 108 | 26.7 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 106 | 24.3 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 103 | 21.0 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 Washington cities with population within ±25% of Castle Rock. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Castle Rock.
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.