In 2025, fire departments serving Gilbert responded to 35 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $300K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Building fires lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 89% of all calls.
Aug peaks. Apr dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
156 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $449K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 26 | — | |
| 2022 | 37 | +42.3% | |
| 2023 | 30 | -18.9% | |
| 2024 | 28 | -6.7% | |
| 2025 | 35 | +25.0% |
For the 16 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 17 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 | Cooking area, kitchen | 4 | 23.5% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 4 | 23.5% | |
| 3 | Vehicle area, other | 2 | 11.8% | |
| 4 | Other | 1 | 5.9% | |
| 5 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 1 | 5.9% | |
| 6 | Bathroom, checkroom, lavatory, locker room | 1 | 5.9% | |
| 7 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 1 | 5.9% | |
| 8 | Machinery room or area; elevator machinery room | 1 | 5.9% | |
| 9 | Exterior, exposed surface | 1 | 5.9% | |
| 10 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 1 | 5.9% |
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 Gilbert mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 4 | 23.5% | |
| 2 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 3 | 17.6% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 3 | 17.6% | |
| 4 | Heat source: other | 2 | 11.8% | |
| 5 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 2 | 11.8% | |
| 6 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 1 | 5.9% | |
| 7 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 1 | 5.9% | |
| 8 | Hot ember or ash | 1 | 5.9% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Gilbert departments in 2025. These 2 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $300,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $1 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Gilbert sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 20,522 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1992 | Arson/incendiarism | 5,200 | 15.6 mi | |
| 1995 | Natural | 3,048 | 47.2 mi | |
| 1992 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,200 | 12.1 mi | |
| 2006 | Natural | 2,085 | 49.7 mi | |
| 2016 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 973 | 17.1 mi | |
| 2000 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 953 | 34.5 mi | |
| 1998 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 950 | 17.6 mi | |
| 2016 | Debris and open burning | 936 | 33.0 mi | |
| 2003 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 732 | 14.2 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 517 | 35.0 mi | |
| 2010 | Equipment and vehicle use | 340 | 19.4 mi | |
| 2010 | Equipment and vehicle use | 270 | 28.8 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 | 55741 | 156 |
Six Minnesota cities with population within ±25% of Gilbert. 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.