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In 2025, fire departments serving La Junta responded to 158 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $971K 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 48% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Jan dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
589 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $3.9M cumulative property loss. 2 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 88 | — | |
| 2022 | 121 | +37.5% | |
| 2023 | 106 | -12.4% | |
| 2024 | 116 | +9.4% | |
| 2025 | 158 | +36.2% |
For the 19 building fires La Junta departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 199 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 | 39 | 19.6% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 23 | 11.6% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 15 | 7.5% | |
| 4 | Undetermined | 15 | 7.5% | |
| 5 | Other | 13 | 6.5% | |
| 6 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 13 | 6.5% | |
| 7 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 7 | 3.5% | |
| 8 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 7 | 3.5% | |
| 9 | Wall surface: exterior | 7 | 3.5% | |
| 10 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 6 | 3.0% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 54 | 27.1% |
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 La Junta mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 53 | 26.6% | |
| 2 | Heat source: other | 26 | 13.1% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 21 | 10.6% | |
| 4 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 11 | 5.5% | |
| 5 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 9 | 4.5% | |
| 6 | Hot ember or ash | 7 | 3.5% | |
| 7 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 7 | 3.5% | |
| 8 | Cigarette lighter | 7 | 3.5% | |
| 9 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 7 | 3.5% | |
| 10 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 6 | 3.0% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 45 | 22.6% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by La Junta departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 97% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $970,820 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $116,080 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $100,000 | Fires in structures other than in a building | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $20,000 | Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $14,840 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $11,750 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $10,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. La Junta sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 207,207 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | Natural | 45,814 | 33.5 mi | |
| 2011 | Natural | 35,583 | 32.6 mi | |
| 2000 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 16,000 | 22.1 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 14,726 | 19.3 mi | |
| 2011 | Natural | 13,312 | 35.3 mi | |
| 2020 | Natural | 11,828 | 42.6 mi | |
| 1996 | Recreation and ceremony | 9,523 | 25.0 mi | |
| 2011 | Natural | 9,089 | 27.1 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 8,900 | 20.5 mi | |
| 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 5,528 | 47.2 mi | |
| 2011 | Natural | 4,500 | 21.9 mi | |
| 1994 | Recreation and ceremony | 4,000 | 49.2 mi |
Top 4 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 La Junta. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in La Junta.
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.