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In 2025, fire departments serving Johnstown responded to 72 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $10K 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 65% of all calls.
May peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
439 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $1.5M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 93 | — | |
| 2022 | 108 | +16.1% | |
| 2023 | 63 | -41.7% | |
| 2024 | 103 | +63.5% | |
| 2025 | 72 | -30.1% |
For the 9 building fires Johnstown departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 104 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 | 25 | 24.0% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 15 | 14.4% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 10 | 9.6% | |
| 4 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 9 | 8.7% | |
| 5 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 5 | 4.8% | |
| 6 | Railroad right of way: on or near | 5 | 4.8% | |
| 7 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 4 | 3.8% | |
| 8 | Cooking area, kitchen | 3 | 2.9% | |
| 9 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 3 | 2.9% | |
| 10 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 2 | 1.9% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 23 | 22.1% |
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 Johnstown mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 57 | 54.8% | |
| 2 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 8 | 7.7% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 7 | 6.7% | |
| 4 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 6 | 5.8% | |
| 5 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 4 | 3.8% | |
| 6 | Hot ember or ash | 4 | 3.8% | |
| 7 | Chemical reaction | 4 | 3.8% | |
| 8 | Cigarette lighter | 3 | 2.9% | |
| 9 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 2 | 1.9% | |
| 10 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 2 | 1.9% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 7 | 6.7% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Johnstown departments in 2025. These 7 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $10,000 | Fire in mobile prop. used as a fixed struc., other | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $5,000 | Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $4,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $3,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $2,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $500 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $50 | Cooking fire, confined to container | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Johnstown sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 193,918 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 | 29.1 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 12,699 | 19.7 mi | |
| 2000 | Recreation and ceremony | 10,599 | 21.4 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 10,106 | 26.6 mi | |
| 2004 | Debris and open burning | 8,908 | 26.7 mi | |
| 2012 | Recreation and ceremony | 7,685 | 30.9 mi | |
| 2004 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 6,400 | 49.0 mi | |
| 2010 | Debris and open burning | 6,382 | 31.8 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 5,200 | 47.7 mi | |
| 2002 | Equipment and vehicle use | 4,348 | 23.3 mi | |
| 2003 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 3,869 | 28.3 mi | |
| 2018 | Natural | 3,713 | 39.9 mi |
Top 7 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
Six Colorado cities with population within ±25% of Johnstown. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Johnstown.
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.