In 2025, fire departments serving Montrose responded to 22 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $75K 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 73% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Aug dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
77 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $286K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 4 | — | |
| 2022* | 0 | — | |
| 2023 | 16 | — | |
| 2024 | 35 | +118.8% | |
| 2025 | 22 | -37.1% |
* Well below Montrose'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 Montrose departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 23 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 | 39.1% | |
| 2 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 3 | 13.0% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 2 | 8.7% | |
| 4 | Entrance way, lobby | 1 | 4.3% | |
| 5 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 1 | 4.3% | |
| 6 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 1 | 4.3% | |
| 7 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 1 | 4.3% | |
| 8 | Storage: supplies or tools; dead storage | 1 | 4.3% | |
| 9 | Structural area, other | 1 | 4.3% | |
| 10 | Cargo/trunk area - all vehicles | 1 | 4.3% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 2 | 8.7% |
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 Montrose mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 14 | 60.9% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 3 | 13.0% | |
| 3 | Hot ember or ash | 2 | 8.7% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 1 | 4.3% | |
| 5 | Heat, spark from friction | 1 | 4.3% | |
| 6 | Molten, hot material | 1 | 4.3% | |
| 7 | Candle | 1 | 4.3% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Montrose departments in 2025. These 2 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $75,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Montrose sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 3,564 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | Debris and open burning | 333 | 44.0 mi | |
| 1999 | Debris and open burning | 280 | 23.6 mi | |
| 1999 | Equipment and vehicle use | 238 | 46.7 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 200 | 47.6 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 200 | 29.1 mi | |
| 2002 | Debris and open burning | 180 | 47.3 mi | |
| 2018 | Debris and open burning | 180 | 27.1 mi | |
| 2017 | Smoking | 150 | 33.5 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 150 | 45.2 mi | |
| 2015 | Debris and open burning | 140 | 49.5 mi | |
| 2017 | Debris and open burning | 125 | 46.9 mi | |
| 2020 | Debris and open burning | 120 | 45.9 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 | 52639 | 77 |
Six Iowa cities with population within ±25% of Montrose. 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.