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In 2025, fire departments serving Eaton responded to 33 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $30K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Incomplete 2025 data. Eaton's departments reported 33 incidents to NFIRS for 2025, against about 74 in a typical year, so 2025 figures on this page undercount. The 2021–2025 totals are the better guide.
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 55% of all calls.
Jun peaks. Nov dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
372 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $252K cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 79 | — | |
| 2022 | 126 | +59.5% | |
| 2023 | 89 | -29.4% | |
| 2024 | 45 | -49.4% | |
| 2025* | 33 | — |
* Well below Eaton'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 3 building fires Eaton departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 118 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 | Undetermined | 31 | 26.3% | |
| 2 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 28 | 23.7% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 13 | 11.0% | |
| 4 | Cooking area, kitchen | 7 | 5.9% | |
| 5 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 7 | 5.9% | |
| 6 | Other | 4 | 3.4% | |
| 7 | Vehicle area, other | 4 | 3.4% | |
| 8 | Storage area, other | 3 | 2.5% | |
| 9 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 3 | 2.5% | |
| 10 | Exterior, exposed surface | 3 | 2.5% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 15 | 12.7% |
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 Eaton mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 68 | 57.6% | |
| 2 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 8 | 6.8% | |
| 3 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 6 | 5.1% | |
| 4 | Hot ember or ash | 6 | 5.1% | |
| 5 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 5 | 4.2% | |
| 6 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 5 | 4.2% | |
| 7 | Heat source: other | 4 | 3.4% | |
| 8 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 4 | 3.4% | |
| 9 | Arcing | 3 | 2.5% | |
| 10 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 3 | 2.5% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 6 | 5.1% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Eaton departments in 2025. These 1 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $30,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Eaton sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 190,421 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | Natural | 87,275 | 36.5 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 12,699 | 11.6 mi | |
| 2000 | Recreation and ceremony | 10,599 | 33.2 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 10,106 | 43.6 mi | |
| 2004 | Debris and open burning | 8,908 | 28.9 mi | |
| 2012 | Recreation and ceremony | 7,685 | 32.2 mi | |
| 2004 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 6,400 | 35.5 mi | |
| 2010 | Debris and open burning | 6,382 | 49.2 mi | |
| 2002 | Equipment and vehicle use | 4,348 | 38.9 mi | |
| 2003 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 3,869 | 45.4 mi | |
| 2018 | Natural | 3,713 | 32.1 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 3,498 | 46.1 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 Eaton. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Eaton.
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.