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In 2025, fire departments serving Federal Heights responded to 70 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $70K 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 67% of all calls.
Jul peaks. Oct dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
385 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $961K cumulative property loss. 2 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 72 | — | |
| 2022 | 87 | +20.8% | |
| 2023 | 66 | -24.1% | |
| 2024 | 90 | +36.4% | |
| 2025 | 70 | -22.2% |
For the 13 building fires Federal Heights departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 125 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 | Outside area, other | 22 | 17.6% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 17 | 13.6% | |
| 3 | Undetermined | 14 | 11.2% | |
| 4 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 13 | 10.4% | |
| 5 | Cooking area, kitchen | 9 | 7.2% | |
| 6 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 7 | 5.6% | |
| 7 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 4 | 3.2% | |
| 8 | Wall surface: exterior | 4 | 3.2% | |
| 9 | Vehicle area, other | 4 | 3.2% | |
| 10 | Bathroom, checkroom, lavatory, locker room | 3 | 2.4% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 28 | 22.4% |
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 Federal Heights mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 45 | 36.0% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 15 | 12.0% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 9 | 7.2% | |
| 4 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 9 | 7.2% | |
| 5 | Heat source: other | 8 | 6.4% | |
| 6 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 8 | 6.4% | |
| 7 | Cigarette lighter | 6 | 4.8% | |
| 8 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 4 | 3.2% | |
| 9 | Heat from undetermined smoking material | 3 | 2.4% | |
| 10 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 3 | 2.4% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 15 | 12.0% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Federal Heights departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $70,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $21,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $17,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $8,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $2,500 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $1,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $250 | Outside equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $25 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Federal Heights sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
14 fire-related casualties recorded in NFIRS Module 11 across the 2021–2025 window. Age, gender, and severity are coarse-binned — no individual identification possible.
| Age | Count | |
|---|---|---|
| 0-9 | 0 | |
| 10-19 | 0 | |
| 20-29 | 5 | |
| 30-39 | 2 | |
| 40-49 | 5 | |
| 50-59 | 1 | |
| 60-69 | 1 | |
| 70-79 | 0 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 107,667 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 12,699 | 43.1 mi | |
| 1996 | Recreation and ceremony | 11,875 | 40.3 mi | |
| 2000 | Smoking | 10,800 | 37.3 mi | |
| 2000 | Recreation and ceremony | 10,599 | 43.5 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 10,106 | 27.8 mi | |
| 2010 | Debris and open burning | 6,382 | 23.4 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 5,200 | 14.1 mi | |
| 2002 | Equipment and vehicle use | 4,348 | 34.9 mi | |
| 2012 | Debris and open burning | 4,142 | 31.5 mi | |
| 2002 | Natural | 4,085 | 43.5 mi | |
| 2003 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 3,869 | 27.1 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 3,498 | 44.9 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 Federal Heights. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Federal Heights.
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.