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In 2025, fire departments serving Glenwood Springs responded to 148 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $1.6M 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 45% of all calls.
Apr peaks. Mar dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
652 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $4.6M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 110 | — | |
| 2022 | 113 | +2.7% | |
| 2023 | 140 | +23.9% | |
| 2024 | 141 | +0.7% | |
| 2025 | 148 | +5.0% |
For the 8 building fires Glenwood Springs departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 138 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 | 26 | 18.8% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 11 | 8.0% | |
| 3 | Cooking area, kitchen | 8 | 5.8% | |
| 4 | Other | 7 | 5.1% | |
| 5 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 7 | 5.1% | |
| 6 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 6 | 4.3% | |
| 7 | Vehicle area, other | 6 | 4.3% | |
| 8 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 6 | 4.3% | |
| 9 | Storage: supplies or tools; dead storage | 5 | 3.6% | |
| 10 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 5 | 3.6% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 51 | 37.0% |
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 Glenwood Springs mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 50 | 36.2% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 20 | 14.5% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 17 | 12.3% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 8 | 5.8% | |
| 5 | Heat source: other | 7 | 5.1% | |
| 6 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 7 | 5.1% | |
| 7 | Heat, spark from friction | 5 | 3.6% | |
| 8 | Cigarette lighter | 4 | 2.9% | |
| 9 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 3 | 2.2% | |
| 10 | Cigarette | 3 | 2.2% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 14 | 10.1% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Glenwood Springs departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $1,590,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $200,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $50,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $6,500 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $4,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $3,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $2,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $1,000 | Dumpster or other outside trash receptacle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Glenwood Springs sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 121,439 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 32,431 | 3.7 mi | |
| 2002 | Natural | 17,056 | 31.1 mi | |
| 2002 | Natural | 13,493 | 12.8 mi | |
| 2002 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 12,209 | 4.7 mi | |
| 2018 | Natural | 5,967 | 30.3 mi | |
| 2002 | Natural | 5,538 | 38.6 mi | |
| 2016 | Natural | 4,417 | 23.4 mi | |
| 2000 | Natural | 4,030 | 49.8 mi | |
| 1994 | Natural | 3,190 | 29.9 mi | |
| 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 3,070 | 20.5 mi | |
| 2018 | Natural | 2,703 | 31.2 mi | |
| 2002 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,400 | 13.5 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 | 81601 | 652 |
Six Colorado cities with population within ±25% of Glenwood Springs. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
2 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Glenwood Springs.
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.