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In 2025, fire departments serving Dolores responded to 39 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $1 building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Forest, woods or wildland fire lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 56% of all calls.
Jan peaks. Apr dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
154 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $296K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 17 | — | |
| 2022 | 75 | — | |
| 2023* | 4 | — | |
| 2024 | 19 | — | |
| 2025 | 39 | +105.3% |
* Well below Dolores's usual volume. That almost always means one or more departments didn't submit a full year to NFIRS, not that fires dropped, so no year-over-year change is shown for it.
For the 2 building fires Dolores departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 46 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 | Wildland, woods | 11 | 23.9% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 9 | 19.6% | |
| 3 | Undetermined | 9 | 19.6% | |
| 4 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 7 | 15.2% | |
| 5 | Other | 2 | 4.3% | |
| 6 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 1 | 2.2% | |
| 7 | Function area, other | 1 | 2.2% | |
| 8 | Cooking area, kitchen | 1 | 2.2% | |
| 9 | Storage area, other | 1 | 2.2% | |
| 10 | Heating room or area, water heater area | 1 | 2.2% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 3 | 6.5% |
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 Dolores mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 13 | 28.3% | |
| 2 | Lightning | 11 | 23.9% | |
| 3 | Heat source: other | 8 | 17.4% | |
| 4 | Multiple heat sources including multiple ignitions | 3 | 6.5% | |
| 5 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 2 | 4.3% | |
| 6 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 2 | 4.3% | |
| 7 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 2 | 4.3% | |
| 8 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 2.2% | |
| 9 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 1 | 2.2% | |
| 10 | Hot ember or ash | 1 | 2.2% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 2 | 4.3% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Dolores departments in 2025. These 1 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $1 | Forest, woods or wildland fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Dolores sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 274,375 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 73,121 | 39.4 mi | |
| 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 54,129 | 37.9 mi | |
| 2002 | Natural | 30,292 | 42.1 mi | |
| 2000 | Natural | 23,220 | 13.1 mi | |
| 2018 | Natural | 19,634 | 12.8 mi | |
| 2012 | Arson/incendiarism | 10,133 | 17.7 mi | |
| 2009 | Natural | 7,300 | 16.9 mi | |
| 1994 | Natural | 7,271 | 38.4 mi | |
| 1996 | Natural | 4,781 | 16.9 mi | |
| 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 4,593 | 21.5 mi | |
| 2000 | Natural | 3,888 | 19.4 mi | |
| 1996 | Natural | 3,840 | 23.8 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 Colorado cities with population within ±25% of Dolores. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
2 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Dolores.
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.