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In 2025, fire departments serving Elizabeth responded to 128 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $2.0M 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 73% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Jan dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
517 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $5.5M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 71 | — | |
| 2022 | 97 | +36.6% | |
| 2023 | 94 | -3.1% | |
| 2024 | 127 | +35.1% | |
| 2025 | 128 | +0.8% |
For the 14 building fires Elizabeth departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 71 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 | 14 | 19.7% | |
| 2 | Cooking area, kitchen | 5 | 7.0% | |
| 3 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 4 | 5.6% | |
| 4 | Attic: vacant, crawl space above top story, cupola | 4 | 5.6% | |
| 5 | Wall surface: exterior | 4 | 5.6% | |
| 6 | Vehicle area, other | 4 | 5.6% | |
| 7 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 4 | 5.6% | |
| 8 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 4 | 5.6% | |
| 9 | Outside area, other | 3 | 4.2% | |
| 10 | Undetermined | 3 | 4.2% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 22 | 31.0% |
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 Elizabeth mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 16 | 22.5% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 15 | 21.1% | |
| 3 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 9 | 12.7% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 9 | 12.7% | |
| 5 | Hot ember or ash | 5 | 7.0% | |
| 6 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 3 | 4.2% | |
| 7 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 3 | 4.2% | |
| 8 | Cigarette lighter | 2 | 2.8% | |
| 9 | Lightning | 2 | 2.8% | |
| 10 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 1 | 1.4% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 6 | 8.5% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Elizabeth departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $2,000,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $350,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 3 | $75,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $30,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $10,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $10,000 | Building or structure weakened or collapsed | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $10,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Elizabeth sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 245,840 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 | 137,760 | 47.1 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 18,947 | 36.9 mi | |
| 2013 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 16,580 | 26.8 mi | |
| 1996 | Recreation and ceremony | 11,875 | 38.4 mi | |
| 2000 | Smoking | 10,800 | 41.6 mi | |
| 2002 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 6,355 | 46.9 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 6,328 | 49.0 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 5,200 | 32.9 mi | |
| 2017 | Equipment and vehicle use | 5,000 | 39.8 mi | |
| 2012 | Debris and open burning | 4,142 | 32.3 mi | |
| 2002 | Natural | 4,085 | 31.5 mi | |
| 2018 | Debris and open burning | 3,000 | 44.3 mi |
Top 5 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 Elizabeth. 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.