In 2025, fire departments serving Moab responded to 73 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $100K 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 53% of all calls.
Jul peaks. Oct dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
337 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $581K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 43 | — | |
| 2022 | 53 | +23.3% | |
| 2023 | 98 | +84.9% | |
| 2024 | 70 | -28.6% | |
| 2025 | 73 | +4.3% |
For the 5 building fires Moab departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 136 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 | Outside area, other | 30 | 22.1% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 13 | 9.6% | |
| 3 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 12 | 8.8% | |
| 4 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 8 | 5.9% | |
| 5 | Cargo/trunk area - all vehicles | 6 | 4.4% | |
| 6 | Exterior, exposed surface | 6 | 4.4% | |
| 7 | Wildland, woods | 6 | 4.4% | |
| 8 | Undetermined | 6 | 4.4% | |
| 9 | Cooking area, kitchen | 4 | 2.9% | |
| 10 | Attic: vacant, crawl space above top story, cupola | 4 | 2.9% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 41 | 30.1% |
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 Moab mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 41 | 30.1% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 19 | 14.0% | |
| 3 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 12 | 8.8% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 10 | 7.4% | |
| 5 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 10 | 7.4% | |
| 6 | Fireworks | 10 | 7.4% | |
| 7 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 6 | 4.4% | |
| 8 | Heat, spark from friction | 6 | 4.4% | |
| 9 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 5 | 3.7% | |
| 10 | Heat source: other | 3 | 2.2% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 14 | 10.3% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Moab departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $50,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $20,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $10,000 | Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $8,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $5,000 | Cooking fire, confined to container | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $3,000 | Grass fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $1,500 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Moab sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 104,373 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | Natural | 36,520 | 48.4 mi | |
| 2002 | Natural | 6,000 | 27.6 mi | |
| 2002 | Natural | 5,969 | 47.1 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 5,742 | 31.6 mi | |
| 1995 | Natural | 5,343 | 35.2 mi | |
| 2000 | Natural | 4,580 | 30.5 mi | |
| 1994 | Smoking | 4,200 | 26.8 mi | |
| 1995 | Natural | 3,500 | 20.4 mi | |
| 2008 | Natural | 3,432 | 11.6 mi | |
| 1999 | Natural | 3,216 | 38.1 mi | |
| 2006 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 2,850 | 37.3 mi | |
| 2002 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,533 | 40.8 mi |
Top 1 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
| # | ZIP | 5-yr incidents | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 84532 | 337 |
Six Utah cities with population within ±25% of Moab. 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.