In 2025, fire departments serving Homer responded to 67 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $100K 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 69% of all calls.
Jul peaks. Mar dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
367 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $3.8M cumulative property loss. 2 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 56 | — | |
| 2022 | 71 | +26.8% | |
| 2023 | 73 | +2.8% | |
| 2024 | 100 | +37.0% | |
| 2025 | 67 | -33.0% |
For the 15 building fires Homer departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 99 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 | 15 | 15.2% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 11 | 11.1% | |
| 3 | Other | 7 | 7.1% | |
| 4 | Undetermined | 7 | 7.1% | |
| 5 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 6 | 6.1% | |
| 6 | Cooking area, kitchen | 5 | 5.1% | |
| 7 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 4 | 4.0% | |
| 8 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 4 | 4.0% | |
| 9 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 3 | 3.0% | |
| 10 | Storage room, area, tank, or bin | 3 | 3.0% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 34 | 34.3% |
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 Homer mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 31 | 31.3% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 10 | 10.1% | |
| 3 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 8 | 8.1% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 7 | 7.1% | |
| 5 | Hot ember or ash | 7 | 7.1% | |
| 6 | Heat source: other | 6 | 6.1% | |
| 7 | Cigarette | 6 | 6.1% | |
| 8 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 5 | 5.1% | |
| 9 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 4 | 4.0% | |
| 10 | Heat, spark from friction | 2 | 2.0% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 13 | 13.1% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Homer departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 96% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $100,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $50,300 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $15,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $10,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $5,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $5,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $5,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Homer sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 120,143 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 56,254 | 25.4 mi | |
| 2005 | Natural | 26,300 | 39.7 mi | |
| 1996 | Debris and open burning | 17,510 | 32.8 mi | |
| 2004 | Recreation and ceremony | 8,600 | 45.0 mi | |
| 2005 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 5,400 | 8.0 mi | |
| 1994 | Recreation and ceremony | 2,800 | 42.0 mi | |
| 2009 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 1,074 | 14.8 mi | |
| 2019 | Equipment and vehicle use | 871 | 23.0 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 335 | 47.0 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 260 | 16.8 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 127 | 16.2 mi | |
| 2019 | Natural | 126 | 32.0 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 | 99603 | 365 |
Six Alaska cities with population within ±25% of Homer. 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.