In 2025, fire departments serving Prudhoe Bay responded to 26 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $594K 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 61% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Feb dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
66 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $1.1M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 7 | — | |
| 2022 | 8 | — | |
| 2023 | 9 | +12.5% | |
| 2024 | 16 | +77.8% | |
| 2025 | 26 | +62.5% |
* Well below Prudhoe Bay'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 3 building fires Prudhoe Bay departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 41 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 | 31.7% | |
| 2 | Other | 4 | 9.8% | |
| 3 | Vehicle area, other | 3 | 7.3% | |
| 4 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 3 | 7.3% | |
| 5 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 2 | 4.9% | |
| 6 | Exterior, exposed surface | 2 | 4.9% | |
| 7 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 1 | 2.4% | |
| 8 | Processing/manufacturing area, workroom | 1 | 2.4% | |
| 9 | Storage area, other | 1 | 2.4% | |
| 10 | Conduit, pipe, utility, or ventilation shaft | 1 | 2.4% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 10 | 24.4% |
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 Prudhoe Bay mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 13 | 31.7% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 6 | 14.6% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 5 | 12.2% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 5 | 12.2% | |
| 5 | Heat, spark from friction | 5 | 12.2% | |
| 6 | Heat source: other | 2 | 4.9% | |
| 7 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 2 | 4.9% | |
| 8 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 2 | 4.9% | |
| 9 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 1 | 2.4% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Prudhoe Bay departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $593,800 | Outside equipment fire | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $40,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $20,000 | Arcing, shorted electrical equipment | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $10,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $5,000 | Electrical wiring/equipment problem, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $5,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $1,000 | Outside equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $1,000 | Fire in mobile prop. used as a fixed struc., other | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Prudhoe Bay sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 2 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
Six Alaska cities with population within ±25% of Prudhoe Bay. 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.