In 2025, fire departments serving Ogden responded to 50 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $750K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Grass fire lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 60% of all calls.
Oct peaks. Jul dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
168 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $1.8M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 12 | — | |
| 2022 | 28 | — | |
| 2023 | 33 | +17.9% | |
| 2024 | 45 | +36.4% | |
| 2025 | 50 | +11.1% |
* Well below Ogden'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 8 building fires Ogden departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 44 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 | 13 | 29.5% | |
| 2 | Other | 5 | 11.4% | |
| 3 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 5 | 11.4% | |
| 4 | Undetermined | 4 | 9.1% | |
| 5 | Vehicle area, other | 3 | 6.8% | |
| 6 | Wall surface: exterior | 2 | 4.5% | |
| 7 | Roof surface: exterior | 2 | 4.5% | |
| 8 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 1 | 2.3% | |
| 9 | Cooking area, kitchen | 1 | 2.3% | |
| 10 | Storage area, other | 1 | 2.3% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 7 | 15.9% |
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 Ogden mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Arcing | 15 | 34.1% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 9 | 20.5% | |
| 3 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 5 | 11.4% | |
| 4 | Match | 3 | 6.8% | |
| 5 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 2 | 4.5% | |
| 6 | Molten, hot material | 2 | 4.5% | |
| 7 | Heat source: other | 1 | 2.3% | |
| 8 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 1 | 2.3% | |
| 9 | Hot ember or ash | 1 | 2.3% | |
| 10 | Heat from undetermined smoking material | 1 | 2.3% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 4 | 9.1% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Ogden departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $750,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $85,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $80,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $30,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $15,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $15,000 | Fire in mobile home used as fixed residence | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $3,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $2,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Ogden sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 3,273 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | Equipment and vehicle use | 700 | 35.2 mi | |
| 2019 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 328 | 31.0 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 300 | 47.8 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 160 | 24.4 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 105 | 34.0 mi | |
| 2013 | Debris and open burning | 100 | 38.5 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 100 | 35.3 mi | |
| 2014 | Natural | 100 | 29.1 mi | |
| 2019 | Debris and open burning | 100 | 49.8 mi | |
| 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 90 | 41.6 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 90 | 49.6 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 85 | 38.9 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 | 50212 | 168 |
Six Iowa cities with population within ±25% of Ogden. 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.