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In 2025, fire departments serving Longmont responded to 349 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $755K 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 46% of all calls.
Jun peaks. Oct dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
1,920 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2021. $15.2M cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 420 | — | |
| 2022 | 385 | -8.3% | |
| 2023 | 361 | -6.2% | |
| 2024 | 405 | +12.2% | |
| 2025 | 349 | -13.8% |
For the 32 building fires Longmont departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 549 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 | 109 | 19.9% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 98 | 17.9% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 55 | 10.0% | |
| 4 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 46 | 8.4% | |
| 5 | Other | 37 | 6.7% | |
| 6 | Cooking area, kitchen | 35 | 6.4% | |
| 7 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 18 | 3.3% | |
| 8 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 15 | 2.7% | |
| 9 | Vehicle area, other | 14 | 2.6% | |
| 10 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 13 | 2.4% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 109 | 19.9% |
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 Longmont mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 272 | 49.5% | |
| 2 | Heat source: other | 39 | 7.1% | |
| 3 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 32 | 5.8% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 30 | 5.5% | |
| 5 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 29 | 5.3% | |
| 6 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 22 | 4.0% | |
| 7 | Cigarette lighter | 18 | 3.3% | |
| 8 | Hot ember or ash | 17 | 3.1% | |
| 9 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 14 | 2.6% | |
| 10 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 13 | 2.4% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 63 | 11.5% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Longmont departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 84% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $754,900 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $500,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 3 | $478,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 4 | $150,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $100,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $90,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $65,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Longmont sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
11 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 | 0 | |
| 20-29 | 3 | |
| 30-39 | 4 | |
| 40-49 | 1 | |
| 50-59 | 1 | |
| 60-69 | 0 | |
| 70-79 | 0 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 186,523 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 | 33.2 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 12,699 | 31.6 mi | |
| 2000 | Recreation and ceremony | 10,599 | 22.8 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 10,106 | 14.9 mi | |
| 2004 | Debris and open burning | 8,908 | 35.4 mi | |
| 2012 | Recreation and ceremony | 7,685 | 39.4 mi | |
| 2010 | Debris and open burning | 6,382 | 17.9 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 5,200 | 34.6 mi | |
| 2002 | Equipment and vehicle use | 4,348 | 16.9 mi | |
| 2003 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 3,869 | 16.0 mi | |
| 2018 | Natural | 3,713 | 48.3 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 3,498 | 27.8 mi |
Top 6 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 Longmont. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
2 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Longmont.
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.