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In 2025, fire departments serving Clifton responded to 152 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $330K 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 60% of all calls.
Jun peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
634 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $2.0M cumulative property loss. 2 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 137 | — | |
| 2022 | 130 | -5.1% | |
| 2023 | 90 | -30.8% | |
| 2024 | 125 | +38.9% | |
| 2025 | 152 | +21.6% |
For the 24 building fires Clifton departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 116 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 | 20 | 17.2% | |
| 2 | Cooking area, kitchen | 14 | 12.1% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 13 | 11.2% | |
| 4 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 12 | 10.3% | |
| 5 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 11 | 9.5% | |
| 6 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 7 | 6.0% | |
| 7 | Other | 5 | 4.3% | |
| 8 | Attic: vacant, crawl space above top story, cupola | 5 | 4.3% | |
| 9 | Cargo/trunk area - all vehicles | 4 | 3.4% | |
| 10 | Wall surface: exterior | 3 | 2.6% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 22 | 19.0% |
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 Clifton mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 54 | 46.6% | |
| 2 | Heat source: other | 11 | 9.5% | |
| 3 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 7 | 6.0% | |
| 4 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 6 | 5.2% | |
| 5 | Arcing | 6 | 5.2% | |
| 6 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 4 | 3.4% | |
| 7 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 4 | 3.4% | |
| 8 | Cigarette | 3 | 2.6% | |
| 9 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 3 | 2.6% | |
| 10 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 2 | 1.7% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 16 | 13.8% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Clifton departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 91% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $330,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $150,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $100,000 | Camper or recreational vehicle (RV) fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $75,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $51,900 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $46,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $35,902 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Clifton sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
9 fire-related casualties recorded in NFIRS Module 11 across the 2021–2025 window. Age, gender, and severity are coarse-binned — no individual identification possible.
| Age | Count | |
|---|---|---|
| 0-9 | 0 | |
| 10-19 | 1 | |
| 20-29 | 0 | |
| 30-39 | 2 | |
| 40-49 | 0 | |
| 50-59 | 2 | |
| 60-69 | 3 | |
| 70-79 | 1 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 282,052 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | Natural | 139,007 | 18.3 mi | |
| 2018 | Natural | 36,520 | 44.2 mi | |
| 2012 | Natural | 13,920 | 11.7 mi | |
| 2017 | Natural | 13,000 | 3.9 mi | |
| 2018 | Natural | 5,722 | 45.2 mi | |
| 1996 | Natural | 5,580 | 24.9 mi | |
| 1995 | Natural | 5,343 | 34.0 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 5,292 | 33.7 mi | |
| 1997 | Natural | 4,600 | 38.4 mi | |
| 2000 | Natural | 4,580 | 45.1 mi | |
| 2004 | Natural | 4,187 | 46.9 mi | |
| 2000 | Natural | 4,030 | 49.9 mi |
Top 2 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 Clifton. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Clifton.
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.