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In 2025, fire departments serving La Salle responded to 27 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $250 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 56% of all calls.
Jul peaks. Feb dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
215 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2021. $8K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 61 | — | |
| 2022 | 53 | -13.1% | |
| 2023 | 55 | +3.8% | |
| 2024* | 19 | — | |
| 2025 | 27 | — |
* Well below La Salle's usual volume. That almost always means one or more departments didn't submit a full year to NFIRS, not that fires dropped, so no year-over-year change is shown for it.
For the 5 building fires La Salle departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 62 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 | Undetermined | 17 | 27.4% | |
| 2 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 16 | 25.8% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 8 | 12.9% | |
| 4 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 5 | 8.1% | |
| 5 | Outside area, other | 4 | 6.5% | |
| 6 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 3 | 4.8% | |
| 7 | Cargo/trunk area - all vehicles | 2 | 3.2% | |
| 8 | Other | 1 | 1.6% | |
| 9 | Equipment or service area, other | 1 | 1.6% | |
| 10 | Switchgear area, transformer vault | 1 | 1.6% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 4 | 6.5% |
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 Salle mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 43 | 69.4% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 3 | 4.8% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 3 | 4.8% | |
| 4 | Heat source: other | 2 | 3.2% | |
| 5 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 2 | 3.2% | |
| 6 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 1 | 1.6% | |
| 7 | Munitions | 1 | 1.6% | |
| 8 | Cigarette lighter | 1 | 1.6% | |
| 9 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 1 | 1.6% | |
| 10 | Chemical reaction | 1 | 1.6% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 4 | 6.5% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by La Salle departments in 2025. These 2 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $250 | Trash or rubbish fire, contained | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $200 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. La Salle sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 191,221 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 | 40.3 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 12,699 | 7.4 mi | |
| 2000 | Recreation and ceremony | 10,599 | 33.8 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 10,106 | 38.1 mi | |
| 2004 | Debris and open burning | 8,908 | 35.4 mi | |
| 2012 | Recreation and ceremony | 7,685 | 39.3 mi | |
| 2004 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 6,400 | 47.7 mi | |
| 2010 | Debris and open burning | 6,382 | 42.1 mi | |
| 2002 | Equipment and vehicle use | 4,348 | 35.9 mi | |
| 2003 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 3,869 | 39.6 mi | |
| 2018 | Natural | 3,713 | 27.3 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 3,498 | 45.1 mi |
Top 2 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 Salle. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in La Salle.
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.