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In 2025, fire departments serving Paonia responded to 30 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $350K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Fire, other lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 70% of all calls.
Nov peaks. Jan dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
172 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2021. $1.4M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 39 | — | |
| 2022 | 29 | -25.6% | |
| 2023 | 39 | +34.5% | |
| 2024 | 35 | -10.3% | |
| 2025 | 30 | -14.3% |
For the 3 building fires Paonia departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 108 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 | 34 | 31.5% | |
| 2 | Wildland, woods | 21 | 19.4% | |
| 3 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 15 | 13.9% | |
| 4 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 6 | 5.6% | |
| 5 | Undetermined | 6 | 5.6% | |
| 6 | Other | 4 | 3.7% | |
| 7 | Vehicle area, other | 3 | 2.8% | |
| 8 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 3 | 2.8% | |
| 9 | Storage area, other | 2 | 1.9% | |
| 10 | Attic: vacant, crawl space above top story, cupola | 2 | 1.9% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 12 | 11.1% |
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 Paonia mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lightning | 17 | 15.7% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 16 | 14.8% | |
| 3 | Match | 11 | 10.2% | |
| 4 | Heat source: other | 9 | 8.3% | |
| 5 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 9 | 8.3% | |
| 6 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 8 | 7.4% | |
| 7 | Hot ember or ash | 8 | 7.4% | |
| 8 | Arcing | 5 | 4.6% | |
| 9 | Chemical reaction | 5 | 4.6% | |
| 10 | Cigarette lighter | 4 | 3.7% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 16 | 14.8% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Paonia departments in 2025. These 4 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $350,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $10,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $500 | Fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $1 | Cooking fire, confined to container | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Paonia sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 58,257 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | Natural | 13,920 | 49.6 mi | |
| 2002 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 12,209 | 47.4 mi | |
| 1994 | Natural | 3,848 | 5.1 mi | |
| 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 3,070 | 44.9 mi | |
| 2004 | Natural | 2,806 | 14.7 mi | |
| 2018 | Natural | 2,703 | 40.2 mi | |
| 2002 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,400 | 47.8 mi | |
| 1994 | Natural | 2,115 | 49.0 mi | |
| 2008 | Natural | 1,587 | 28.1 mi | |
| 2008 | Natural | 1,485 | 33.7 mi | |
| 2007 | Natural | 1,240 | 49.1 mi | |
| 2019 | Natural | 1,235 | 36.0 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 Colorado cities with population within ±25% of Paonia. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Paonia.
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.