In 2025, fire departments serving Prescott Valley responded to 181 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $250K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Unauthorized burning lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 53% of all calls.
Sep peaks. Feb dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
816 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $62.9M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 165 | — | |
| 2022 | 160 | -3.0% | |
| 2023 | 158 | -1.2% | |
| 2024 | 152 | -3.8% | |
| 2025 | 181 | +19.1% |
For the 18 building fires Prescott Valley departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 155 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 | 25 | 16.1% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 14 | 9.0% | |
| 3 | Cooking area, kitchen | 13 | 8.4% | |
| 4 | Undetermined | 9 | 5.8% | |
| 5 | Other | 8 | 5.2% | |
| 6 | Exterior, exposed surface | 8 | 5.2% | |
| 7 | Vehicle area, other | 7 | 4.5% | |
| 8 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 6 | 3.9% | |
| 9 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 5 | 3.2% | |
| 10 | Attic: vacant, crawl space above top story, cupola | 5 | 3.2% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 55 | 35.5% |
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 Prescott Valley mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 38 | 24.5% | |
| 2 | Heat source: other | 25 | 16.1% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 15 | 9.7% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 12 | 7.7% | |
| 5 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 12 | 7.7% | |
| 6 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 7 | 4.5% | |
| 7 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 7 | 4.5% | |
| 8 | Heat, spark from friction | 6 | 3.9% | |
| 9 | Hot ember or ash | 6 | 3.9% | |
| 10 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 5 | 3.2% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 22 | 14.2% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Prescott Valley departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 88% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $250,000 | Fire in mobile home used as fixed residence | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $125,000 | Fire in mobile home used as fixed residence | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $120,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $118,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $100,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $60,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Prescott Valley sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
272 fire-related casualties recorded in NFIRS Module 11 across the 2021–2025 window. Age, gender, and severity are coarse-binned — no individual identification possible.
| Age | Count | |
|---|---|---|
| 0-9 | 0 | |
| 10-19 | 0 | |
| 20-29 | 71 | |
| 30-39 | 105 | |
| 40-49 | 59 | |
| 50-59 | 30 | |
| 60-69 | 7 | |
| 70-79 | 0 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 325,510 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | Natural | 33,550 | 36.0 mi | |
| 2005 | Natural | 32,126 | 40.1 mi | |
| 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 28,516 | 16.9 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 22,077 | 40.3 mi | |
| 2019 | Natural | 21,510 | 33.0 mi | |
| 2017 | Natural | 18,072 | 35.4 mi | |
| 2012 | Other causes | 16,240 | 25.1 mi | |
| 2017 | Natural | 15,333 | 49.1 mi | |
| 2020 | Natural | 12,252 | 40.2 mi | |
| 2005 | Natural | 10,482 | 34.2 mi | |
| 2008 | Recreation and ceremony | 9,629 | 29.3 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 9,537 | 23.0 mi |
Top 7 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
Six Arizona cities with population within ±25% of Prescott Valley. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Prescott Valley.
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.