In 2025, fire departments serving Lake Havasu City responded to 763 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $1.2M building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Aircraft standby lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 75% of all calls.
Oct peaks. Feb dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
2,095 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $24.5M cumulative property loss. 3 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 301 | — | |
| 2022 | 346 | +15.0% | |
| 2023 | 363 | +4.9% | |
| 2024 | 322 | -11.3% | |
| 2025 | 763 | +137.0% |
For the 16 building fires Lake Havasu City departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 618 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 | 111 | 18.0% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 69 | 11.2% | |
| 3 | Cooking area, kitchen | 57 | 9.2% | |
| 4 | Courtyard, patio, porch, terrace | 46 | 7.4% | |
| 5 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 38 | 6.1% | |
| 6 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 37 | 6.0% | |
| 7 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 28 | 4.5% | |
| 8 | Cargo/trunk area - all vehicles | 26 | 4.2% | |
| 9 | Outside area, other | 26 | 4.2% | |
| 10 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 17 | 2.8% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 163 | 26.4% |
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 Lake Havasu City mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 275 | 44.5% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 54 | 8.7% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 44 | 7.1% | |
| 4 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 36 | 5.8% | |
| 5 | Heat source: other | 27 | 4.4% | |
| 6 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 27 | 4.4% | |
| 7 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 22 | 3.6% | |
| 8 | Cigarette lighter | 16 | 2.6% | |
| 9 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 12 | 1.9% | |
| 10 | Cigarette | 12 | 1.9% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 93 | 15.0% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Lake Havasu City departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 76% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $1,200,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $500,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Major | Investigated |
| 3 | $499,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 4 | $200,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $200,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $200,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $200,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $125,000 | Camper or recreational vehicle (RV) fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Lake Havasu City sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
45 fire-related casualties recorded in NFIRS Module 11 across the 2021–2025 window. Age, gender, and severity are coarse-binned — no individual identification possible.
| Age | Count | |
|---|---|---|
| 0-9 | 0 | |
| 10-19 | 2 | |
| 20-29 | 8 | |
| 30-39 | 7 | |
| 40-49 | 9 | |
| 50-59 | 4 | |
| 60-69 | 6 | |
| 70-79 | 7 | |
| 80+ | 2 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 58,310 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 9,380 | 35.4 mi | |
| 2015 | Natural | 6,083 | 25.1 mi | |
| 2013 | Natural | 5,413 | 49.8 mi | |
| 1994 | Natural | 5,000 | 29.0 mi | |
| 1995 | Arson/incendiarism | 3,408 | 26.9 mi | |
| 2020 | Natural | 3,079 | 42.8 mi | |
| 1999 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,400 | 7.8 mi | |
| 1995 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,360 | 35.5 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,232 | 22.0 mi | |
| 1998 | Fireworks | 2,200 | 22.2 mi | |
| 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,200 | 48.9 mi | |
| 2003 | Natural | 2,180 | 40.1 mi |
Top 5 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
Six Arizona cities with population within ±25% of Lake Havasu City. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
2 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Lake Havasu City.
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.