In 2025, fire departments serving Ely responded to 39 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $15K 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 46% of all calls.
May peaks. Jul dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
141 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $460K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 26 | — | |
| 2022 | 28 | +7.7% | |
| 2023 | 19 | -32.1% | |
| 2024 | 29 | +52.6% | |
| 2025 | 39 | +34.5% |
For the 1 building fires Ely departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 45 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 | 6 | 13.3% | |
| 2 | Cooking area, kitchen | 5 | 11.1% | |
| 3 | Other | 4 | 8.9% | |
| 4 | Wildland, woods | 4 | 8.9% | |
| 5 | Outside area, other | 3 | 6.7% | |
| 6 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 2 | 4.4% | |
| 7 | Storage area, other | 2 | 4.4% | |
| 8 | Substructure area or space, crawl space | 2 | 4.4% | |
| 9 | Vehicle area, other | 2 | 4.4% | |
| 10 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 2 | 4.4% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 13 | 28.9% |
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 Ely mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 21 | 46.7% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 4 | 8.9% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 4 | 8.9% | |
| 4 | Heat source: other | 3 | 6.7% | |
| 5 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 3 | 6.7% | |
| 6 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 2 | 4.4% | |
| 7 | Hot ember or ash | 2 | 4.4% | |
| 8 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 1 | 2.2% | |
| 9 | Heat, spark from friction | 1 | 2.2% | |
| 10 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 1 | 2.2% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 3 | 6.7% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Ely departments in 2025. These 4 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $15,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $5,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $2,000 | Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $1,000 | Fires in structures other than in a building | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Ely sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 99,002 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | Natural | 12,550 | 39.5 mi | |
| 2012 | Natural | 12,046 | 2.9 mi | |
| 2000 | Natural | 8,401 | 44.4 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 8,268 | 30.5 mi | |
| 2012 | Equipment and vehicle use | 7,238 | 38.2 mi | |
| 1998 | Natural | 5,132 | 30.1 mi | |
| 2013 | Natural | 4,901 | 48.2 mi | |
| 2016 | Natural | 4,656 | 33.8 mi | |
| 2012 | Firearms and explosives use | 4,635 | 4.5 mi | |
| 2007 | Natural | 3,847 | 34.1 mi | |
| 2006 | Natural | 3,456 | 20.2 mi | |
| 2007 | Natural | 2,500 | 40.0 mi |
Top 2 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
Six Nevada cities with population within ±25% of Ely. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Ely.
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.