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In 2025, fire departments serving Dallas responded to 153 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $368K 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.
Jul peaks. Jan dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
619 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2021. $2.8M cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 164 | — | |
| 2022 | 121 | -26.2% | |
| 2023 | 75 | -38.0% | |
| 2024 | 106 | +41.3% | |
| 2025 | 153 | +44.3% |
For the 26 building fires Dallas departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 106 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 | 13 | 12.3% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 11 | 10.4% | |
| 3 | Undetermined | 11 | 10.4% | |
| 4 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 10 | 9.4% | |
| 5 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 9 | 8.5% | |
| 6 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 9 | 8.5% | |
| 7 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 5 | 4.7% | |
| 8 | Vehicle area, other | 5 | 4.7% | |
| 9 | Other | 4 | 3.8% | |
| 10 | Courtyard, patio, porch, terrace | 4 | 3.8% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 25 | 23.6% |
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 Dallas mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 34 | 32.1% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 17 | 16.0% | |
| 3 | Hot ember or ash | 8 | 7.5% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 7 | 6.6% | |
| 5 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 6 | 5.7% | |
| 6 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 5 | 4.7% | |
| 7 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 5 | 4.7% | |
| 8 | Cigarette | 4 | 3.8% | |
| 9 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 4 | 3.8% | |
| 10 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 2 | 1.9% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 14 | 13.2% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Dallas departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 88% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $367,500 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $105,220 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $102,200 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $97,720 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $50,000 | Fire in motor home, camper, recreational vehicle | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $40,500 | Outside rubbish, trash or waste fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Dallas sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 10,048 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,584 | 41.9 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,552 | 29.5 mi | |
| 2020 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 532 | 35.9 mi | |
| 2020 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 497 | 48.7 mi | |
| 2003 | Debris and open burning | 376 | 14.1 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 330 | 43.0 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 301 | 48.9 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 281 | 26.5 mi | |
| 2017 | Debris and open burning | 250 | 45.7 mi | |
| 2015 | Recreation and ceremony | 215 | 21.8 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 211 | 42.2 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 202 | 35.2 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 Oregon cities with population within ±25% of Dallas. 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.