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In 2025, fire departments serving Craig responded to 78 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $20K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 51% of all calls.
Aug peaks. Feb dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
374 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $5.7M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 68 | — | |
| 2022 | 76 | +11.8% | |
| 2023 | 80 | +5.3% | |
| 2024 | 72 | -10.0% | |
| 2025 | 78 | +8.3% |
For the 7 building fires Craig departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 138 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 | 17 | 12.3% | |
| 2 | Other | 12 | 8.7% | |
| 3 | Undetermined | 12 | 8.7% | |
| 4 | Outside area, other | 11 | 8.0% | |
| 5 | Cooking area, kitchen | 9 | 6.5% | |
| 6 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 9 | 6.5% | |
| 7 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 8 | 5.8% | |
| 8 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 7 | 5.1% | |
| 9 | Vehicle area, other | 6 | 4.3% | |
| 10 | Storage area, other | 5 | 3.6% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 42 | 30.4% |
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 Craig mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 35 | 25.4% | |
| 2 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 17 | 12.3% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 11 | 8.0% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 10 | 7.2% | |
| 5 | Molten, hot material | 9 | 6.5% | |
| 6 | Hot ember or ash | 8 | 5.8% | |
| 7 | Heat source: other | 7 | 5.1% | |
| 8 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 5 | 3.6% | |
| 9 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 5 | 3.6% | |
| 10 | Lightning | 5 | 3.6% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 26 | 18.8% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Craig departments in 2025. These 6 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $20,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $15,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $5,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $1,000 | Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $1,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $1 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Craig sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 250,660 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | Natural | 25,385 | 29.7 mi | |
| 2020 | Natural | 20,517 | 40.6 mi | |
| 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 19,946 | 23.5 mi | |
| 2014 | Equipment and vehicle use | 19,569 | 29.2 mi | |
| 2002 | Natural | 17,056 | 38.8 mi | |
| 2002 | Natural | 16,852 | 43.9 mi | |
| 2002 | Natural | 14,403 | 42.7 mi | |
| 1996 | Natural | 13,775 | 44.8 mi | |
| 1993 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 12,410 | 38.3 mi | |
| 1993 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 9,600 | 41.2 mi | |
| 2000 | Natural | 8,603 | 46.2 mi | |
| 2010 | Natural | 7,917 | 28.9 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 | 81625 | 374 |
Six Colorado cities with population within ±25% of Craig. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
2 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Craig.
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.