In 2025, fire departments serving Litchfield Park responded to 67 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $200K 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 52% of all calls.
Dec peaks. Jul dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
209 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $770K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 13 | — | |
| 2022 | 29 | — | |
| 2023 | 38 | +31.0% | |
| 2024 | 62 | +63.2% | |
| 2025 | 67 | +8.1% |
* Well below Litchfield Park'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 6 building fires Litchfield Park departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 48 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 | 9 | 18.8% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 6 | 12.5% | |
| 3 | Vehicle area, other | 4 | 8.3% | |
| 4 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 3 | 6.2% | |
| 5 | Courtyard, patio, porch, terrace | 3 | 6.2% | |
| 6 | Cooking area, kitchen | 2 | 4.2% | |
| 7 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 2 | 4.2% | |
| 8 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 2 | 4.2% | |
| 9 | Other | 1 | 2.1% | |
| 10 | Corridor, mall | 1 | 2.1% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 15 | 31.2% |
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 Litchfield Park mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 19 | 39.6% | |
| 2 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 5 | 10.4% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 4 | 8.3% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 4 | 8.3% | |
| 5 | Hot ember or ash | 4 | 8.3% | |
| 6 | Heat source: other | 3 | 6.2% | |
| 7 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 2 | 4.2% | |
| 8 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 2 | 4.2% | |
| 9 | Heat from undetermined smoking material | 2 | 4.2% | |
| 10 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 1 | 2.1% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 2 | 4.2% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Litchfield Park departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $200,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $100,000 | Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $30,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $7,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $3,000 | Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $1,000 | Fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $500 | Arcing, shorted electrical equipment | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Litchfield Park sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 664,976 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | Natural | 248,310 | 45.1 mi | |
| 2020 | Equipment and vehicle use | 193,455 | 46.7 mi | |
| 2017 | Natural | 33,550 | 48.4 mi | |
| 1995 | Natural | 24,505 | 36.3 mi | |
| 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 14,534 | 44.5 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 14,476 | 40.9 mi | |
| 2020 | Natural | 12,252 | 39.1 mi | |
| 2005 | Natural | 10,482 | 47.2 mi | |
| 2008 | Recreation and ceremony | 9,629 | 46.4 mi | |
| 1995 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 9,500 | 44.9 mi | |
| 2019 | Natural | 7,944 | 37.0 mi | |
| 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 7,740 | 41.3 mi |
Top 3 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 Litchfield Park. 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.