In 2025, fire departments serving Park City responded to 284 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 64% of all calls.
Sep peaks. Apr dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
1,503 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $2.4M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 263 | — | |
| 2022 | 296 | +12.5% | |
| 2023 | 359 | +21.3% | |
| 2024 | 301 | -16.2% | |
| 2025 | 284 | -5.6% |
For the 7 building fires Park City departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 230 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 | 57 | 24.8% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 39 | 17.0% | |
| 3 | Cooking area, kitchen | 21 | 9.1% | |
| 4 | Vehicle area, other | 12 | 5.2% | |
| 5 | Outside area, other | 12 | 5.2% | |
| 6 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 6 | 2.6% | |
| 7 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 6 | 2.6% | |
| 8 | Other | 5 | 2.2% | |
| 9 | Duct: hvac, cable, exhaust, heating, or AC | 5 | 2.2% | |
| 10 | Wall surface: exterior | 5 | 2.2% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 62 | 27.0% |
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 Park City mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 70 | 30.4% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 40 | 17.4% | |
| 3 | Heat source: other | 27 | 11.7% | |
| 4 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 17 | 7.4% | |
| 5 | Arcing | 15 | 6.5% | |
| 6 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 14 | 6.1% | |
| 7 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 10 | 4.3% | |
| 8 | Hot ember or ash | 6 | 2.6% | |
| 9 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 5 | 2.2% | |
| 10 | Heat, spark from friction | 4 | 1.7% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 22 | 9.6% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Park City departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 93% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $40,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $25,000 | Fires in structures other than in a building | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $20,000 | Fire in motor home, camper, recreational vehicle | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $11,000 | Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $10,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $10,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $10,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Park City sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 292,832 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | Natural | 89,765 | 41.7 mi | |
| 2018 | Natural | 31,661 | 48.6 mi | |
| 2016 | Natural | 15,330 | 43.3 mi | |
| 2002 | Recreation and ceremony | 14,208 | 41.7 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 12,584 | 37.2 mi | |
| 2017 | Natural | 9,159 | 46.4 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 9,000 | 27.5 mi | |
| 2019 | Equipment and vehicle use | 8,906 | 43.1 mi | |
| 1999 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 8,826 | 42.5 mi | |
| 2001 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 8,021 | 46.0 mi | |
| 2003 | Debris and open burning | 7,828 | 14.4 mi | |
| 1996 | Natural | 7,620 | 37.6 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 Utah cities with population within ±25% of Park City. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Park City.
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.