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In 2025, fire departments serving Rocky Ford responded to 92 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $45K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Authorized controlled burning lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 55% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Jan dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
561 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2021. $1.1M cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 134 | — | |
| 2022 | 127 | -5.2% | |
| 2023 | 113 | -11.0% | |
| 2024 | 95 | -15.9% | |
| 2025 | 92 | -3.2% |
For the 3 building fires Rocky Ford departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 111 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 | Undetermined | 22 | 19.8% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 11 | 9.9% | |
| 3 | Other | 10 | 9.0% | |
| 4 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 8 | 7.2% | |
| 5 | Outside area, other | 7 | 6.3% | |
| 6 | Vehicle area, other | 6 | 5.4% | |
| 7 | Cooking area, kitchen | 4 | 3.6% | |
| 8 | Attic: vacant, crawl space above top story, cupola | 4 | 3.6% | |
| 9 | Vacant structural area | 4 | 3.6% | |
| 10 | Storage area, other | 3 | 2.7% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 32 | 28.8% |
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 Rocky Ford mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 38 | 34.2% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 12 | 10.8% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 9 | 8.1% | |
| 4 | Heat source: other | 8 | 7.2% | |
| 5 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 6 | 5.4% | |
| 6 | Hot ember or ash | 5 | 4.5% | |
| 7 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 5 | 4.5% | |
| 8 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 4 | 3.6% | |
| 9 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 4 | 3.6% | |
| 10 | Heat, spark from friction | 3 | 2.7% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 17 | 15.3% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Rocky Ford departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 93% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $45,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $15,000 | Camper or recreational vehicle (RV) fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $15,000 | Cultivated vegetation, crop fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $15,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $15,000 | Fires in structures other than in a building | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $10,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $10,000 | Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $5,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Rocky Ford sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 222,344 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | Natural | 45,814 | 36.2 mi | |
| 2011 | Natural | 35,583 | 34.0 mi | |
| 2000 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 16,000 | 22.1 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 14,726 | 28.6 mi | |
| 2011 | Natural | 13,312 | 42.3 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 12,000 | 48.2 mi | |
| 2020 | Natural | 11,828 | 49.4 mi | |
| 2002 | Natural | 10,000 | 46.2 mi | |
| 1996 | Recreation and ceremony | 9,523 | 30.1 mi | |
| 2011 | Natural | 9,089 | 31.6 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 8,900 | 12.3 mi | |
| 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 5,528 | 38.1 mi |
Top 5 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 Rocky Ford. 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.