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In 2025, fire departments serving Erie responded to 138 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $30K 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 65% of all calls.
Oct peaks. Mar dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
664 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $2.1M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 117 | — | |
| 2022 | 160 | +36.8% | |
| 2023 | 119 | -25.6% | |
| 2024 | 130 | +9.2% | |
| 2025 | 138 | +6.2% |
For the 9 building fires Erie departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 83 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 | 13 | 15.7% | |
| 2 | Cooking area, kitchen | 10 | 12.0% | |
| 3 | Undetermined | 9 | 10.8% | |
| 4 | Other | 7 | 8.4% | |
| 5 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 6 | 7.2% | |
| 6 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 3 | 3.6% | |
| 7 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 3 | 3.6% | |
| 8 | Cargo/trunk area - all vehicles | 3 | 3.6% | |
| 9 | Interior stairway or ramp | 2 | 2.4% | |
| 10 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 2 | 2.4% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 25 | 30.1% |
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 Erie mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 22 | 26.5% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 12 | 14.5% | |
| 3 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 9 | 10.8% | |
| 4 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 9 | 10.8% | |
| 5 | Arcing | 8 | 9.6% | |
| 6 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 4 | 4.8% | |
| 7 | Chemical reaction | 3 | 3.6% | |
| 8 | Heat source: other | 2 | 2.4% | |
| 9 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 2 | 2.4% | |
| 10 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 2 | 2.4% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 10 | 12.0% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Erie departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 93% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $30,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $20,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $15,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $15,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $11,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $5,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $4,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $3,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Erie sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 200,490 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 | 42.5 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 12,699 | 34.4 mi | |
| 2000 | Smoking | 10,800 | 47.4 mi | |
| 2000 | Recreation and ceremony | 10,599 | 32.0 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 10,106 | 19.7 mi | |
| 2004 | Debris and open burning | 8,908 | 44.7 mi | |
| 2012 | Recreation and ceremony | 7,685 | 48.8 mi | |
| 2010 | Debris and open burning | 6,382 | 18.7 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 5,200 | 25.8 mi | |
| 2002 | Equipment and vehicle use | 4,348 | 24.8 mi | |
| 2012 | Debris and open burning | 4,142 | 42.8 mi | |
| 2003 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 3,869 | 19.8 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 Erie. 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.