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In 2025, fire departments serving Fort Lupton responded to 86 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $200K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Unauthorized burning lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 76% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
514 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $1.9M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 101 | — | |
| 2022 | 123 | +21.8% | |
| 2023 | 102 | -17.1% | |
| 2024 | 102 | +0.0% | |
| 2025 | 86 | -15.7% |
For the 9 building fires Fort Lupton departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 100 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 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 22 | 22.0% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 19 | 19.0% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 12 | 12.0% | |
| 4 | Outside area, other | 12 | 12.0% | |
| 5 | Other | 8 | 8.0% | |
| 6 | Storage area, other | 8 | 8.0% | |
| 7 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 6 | 6.0% | |
| 8 | Cooking area, kitchen | 3 | 3.0% | |
| 9 | Equipment or service area, other | 2 | 2.0% | |
| 10 | Vehicle area, other | 2 | 2.0% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 6 | 6.0% |
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 Fort Lupton mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 64 | 64.0% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 6 | 6.0% | |
| 3 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 4 | 4.0% | |
| 4 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 4 | 4.0% | |
| 5 | Hot ember or ash | 3 | 3.0% | |
| 6 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 2 | 2.0% | |
| 7 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 2 | 2.0% | |
| 8 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 2 | 2.0% | |
| 9 | Chemical reaction | 2 | 2.0% | |
| 10 | Lightning | 2 | 2.0% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 9 | 9.0% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Fort Lupton departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 98% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $200,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $75,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $40,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $25,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $15,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $10,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $4,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $3,000 | Grass fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Fort Lupton sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 184,093 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 | 47.1 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 12,699 | 24.5 mi | |
| 2000 | Recreation and ceremony | 10,599 | 37.5 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 10,106 | 30.8 mi | |
| 2004 | Debris and open burning | 8,908 | 46.4 mi | |
| 2010 | Debris and open burning | 6,382 | 31.2 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 5,200 | 32.3 mi | |
| 2002 | Equipment and vehicle use | 4,348 | 33.5 mi | |
| 2012 | Debris and open burning | 4,142 | 49.7 mi | |
| 2003 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 3,869 | 31.4 mi | |
| 2018 | Natural | 3,713 | 34.9 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 3,498 | 44.3 mi |
Top 1 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
| # | ZIP | 5-yr incidents | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 80621 | 514 |
Six Colorado cities with population within ±25% of Fort Lupton. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Fort Lupton.
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.