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In 2025, fire departments serving Crested Butte responded to 59 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $5K 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 81% of all calls.
Apr peaks. May dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
332 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $637K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 68 | — | |
| 2022 | 56 | -17.6% | |
| 2023 | 92 | +64.3% | |
| 2024 | 57 | -38.0% | |
| 2025 | 59 | +3.5% |
For the 1 building fires Crested Butte departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 28 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 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 4 | 14.3% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 3 | 10.7% | |
| 3 | Cooking area, kitchen | 2 | 7.1% | |
| 4 | Substructure area or space, crawl space | 2 | 7.1% | |
| 5 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 2 | 7.1% | |
| 6 | Other | 1 | 3.6% | |
| 7 | Corridor, mall | 1 | 3.6% | |
| 8 | Entrance way, lobby | 1 | 3.6% | |
| 9 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 1 | 3.6% | |
| 10 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 1 | 3.6% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 10 | 35.7% |
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 Crested Butte mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 6 | 21.4% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 5 | 17.9% | |
| 3 | Undetermined | 5 | 17.9% | |
| 4 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 2 | 7.1% | |
| 5 | Hot ember or ash | 2 | 7.1% | |
| 6 | Heat source: other | 1 | 3.6% | |
| 7 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 1 | 3.6% | |
| 8 | Molten, hot material | 1 | 3.6% | |
| 9 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 1 | 3.6% | |
| 10 | Cigarette | 1 | 3.6% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 3 | 10.7% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Crested Butte departments in 2025. These 4 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $5,000 | Cooking fire, confined to container | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $1,500 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $1,000 | Arcing, shorted electrical equipment | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $100 | Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Crested Butte sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 29,934 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 6,600 | 46.3 mi | |
| 1994 | Natural | 3,848 | 38.0 mi | |
| 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 3,070 | 34.0 mi | |
| 2004 | Natural | 2,806 | 47.3 mi | |
| 2002 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,400 | 41.1 mi | |
| 2008 | Natural | 1,587 | 26.8 mi | |
| 2002 | Natural | 1,084 | 17.6 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,000 | 38.5 mi | |
| 1996 | Natural | 847 | 46.7 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 814 | 35.3 mi | |
| 2018 | Natural | 747 | 47.1 mi | |
| 2019 | Natural | 720 | 31.7 mi |
Top 4 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 Crested Butte. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Crested Butte.
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.