In 2025, fire departments serving Gilbert responded to 747 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $500K 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 63% of all calls.
Jul peaks. Oct dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
3,229 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $20.3M cumulative property loss. 3 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 554 | — | |
| 2022 | 541 | -2.3% | |
| 2023 | 685 | +26.6% | |
| 2024 | 702 | +2.5% | |
| 2025 | 747 | +6.4% |
For the 122 building fires Gilbert departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 720 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 | 105 | 14.6% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 94 | 13.1% | |
| 3 | Undetermined | 73 | 10.1% | |
| 4 | Cooking area, kitchen | 60 | 8.3% | |
| 5 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 60 | 8.3% | |
| 6 | Bathroom, checkroom, lavatory, locker room | 34 | 4.7% | |
| 7 | Vehicle area, other | 26 | 3.6% | |
| 8 | Courtyard, patio, porch, terrace | 24 | 3.3% | |
| 9 | Cargo/trunk area - all vehicles | 23 | 3.2% | |
| 10 | Attic: vacant, crawl space above top story, cupola | 19 | 2.6% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 202 | 28.1% |
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 Gilbert mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 198 | 27.5% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 183 | 25.4% | |
| 3 | Heat source: other | 84 | 11.7% | |
| 4 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 53 | 7.4% | |
| 5 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 31 | 4.3% | |
| 6 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 28 | 3.9% | |
| 7 | Arcing | 27 | 3.8% | |
| 8 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 26 | 3.6% | |
| 9 | Explosive, fireworks, other | 11 | 1.5% | |
| 10 | Fireworks | 9 | 1.2% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 70 | 9.7% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Gilbert departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 49% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $500,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $450,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 3 | $300,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 4 | $283,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 5 | $200,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $160,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $150,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $150,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Gilbert sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
33 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 | 1 | |
| 10-19 | 1 | |
| 20-29 | 8 | |
| 30-39 | 9 | |
| 40-49 | 8 | |
| 50-59 | 3 | |
| 60-69 | 1 | |
| 70-79 | 2 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 923,463 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | Natural | 248,310 | 46.4 mi | |
| 2020 | Equipment and vehicle use | 193,455 | 24.3 mi | |
| 2019 | Recreation and ceremony | 123,875 | 31.7 mi | |
| 2005 | Natural | 72,000 | 29.4 mi | |
| 1996 | Recreation and ceremony | 58,960 | 36.2 mi | |
| 2020 | Natural | 24,729 | 26.7 mi | |
| 1995 | Natural | 24,505 | 26.8 mi | |
| 1995 | Natural | 22,092 | 45.2 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 17,618 | 45.6 mi | |
| 2005 | Natural | 16,100 | 39.4 mi | |
| 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 14,534 | 38.8 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 14,476 | 39.9 mi |
Top 10 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
Six Arizona cities with population within ±25% of Gilbert. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Gilbert.
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.