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In 2025, fire departments serving Durango responded to 417 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $400K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Vehicle accident, general cleanup lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 58% of all calls.
Aug peaks. Feb dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
1,853 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $4.0M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 323 | — | |
| 2022 | 352 | +9.0% | |
| 2023 | 368 | +4.5% | |
| 2024 | 393 | +6.8% | |
| 2025 | 417 | +6.1% |
For the 11 building fires Durango departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 230 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 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 40 | 17.4% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 35 | 15.2% | |
| 3 | Cooking area, kitchen | 24 | 10.4% | |
| 4 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 14 | 6.1% | |
| 5 | Outside area, other | 14 | 6.1% | |
| 6 | Other | 11 | 4.8% | |
| 7 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 7 | 3.0% | |
| 8 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 6 | 2.6% | |
| 9 | Bathroom, checkroom, lavatory, locker room | 6 | 2.6% | |
| 10 | Cargo/trunk area - all vehicles | 6 | 2.6% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 67 | 29.1% |
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 Durango mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 87 | 37.8% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 21 | 9.1% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 20 | 8.7% | |
| 4 | Hot ember or ash | 20 | 8.7% | |
| 5 | Arcing | 13 | 5.7% | |
| 6 | Cigarette | 9 | 3.9% | |
| 7 | Heat, spark from friction | 8 | 3.5% | |
| 8 | Heat source: other | 6 | 2.6% | |
| 9 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 6 | 2.6% | |
| 10 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 5 | 2.2% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 35 | 15.2% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Durango departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $400,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $59,000 | Camper or recreational vehicle (RV) fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $35,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $15,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $5,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $3,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $3,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $2,500 | Fire in portable building, fixed location | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Durango sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 317,069 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 | 12.7 mi | |
| 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 54,129 | 14.0 mi | |
| 2013 | Natural | 49,628 | 48.5 mi | |
| 2012 | Natural | 24,931 | 36.1 mi | |
| 2000 | Natural | 23,220 | 28.3 mi | |
| 2018 | Natural | 19,634 | 42.4 mi | |
| 1996 | Natural | 15,356 | 49.4 mi | |
| 2012 | Arson/incendiarism | 10,133 | 23.3 mi | |
| 1994 | Natural | 7,271 | 11.3 mi | |
| 1996 | Natural | 4,781 | 34.3 mi | |
| 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 4,593 | 21.3 mi | |
| 2000 | Natural | 3,888 | 39.2 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 Colorado cities with population within ±25% of Durango. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
2 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Durango.
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.