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In 2025, fire departments serving Salida responded to 242 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $10K 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 81% of all calls.
Apr peaks. Aug dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
637 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $532K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 103 | — | |
| 2022 | 116 | +12.6% | |
| 2023 | 77 | -33.6% | |
| 2024 | 99 | +28.6% | |
| 2025 | 242 | +144.4% |
For the 2 building fires Salida departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 79 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 | 7 | 8.9% | |
| 2 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 7 | 8.9% | |
| 3 | Wildland, woods | 7 | 8.9% | |
| 4 | Courtyard, patio, porch, terrace | 5 | 6.3% | |
| 5 | Cooking area, kitchen | 4 | 5.1% | |
| 6 | Conduit, pipe, utility, or ventilation shaft | 3 | 3.8% | |
| 7 | Exterior, exposed surface | 3 | 3.8% | |
| 8 | Outside area, other | 3 | 3.8% | |
| 9 | Undetermined | 3 | 3.8% | |
| 10 | Other | 2 | 2.5% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 35 | 44.3% |
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 Salida mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 19 | 24.1% | |
| 2 | Hot ember or ash | 10 | 12.7% | |
| 3 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 8 | 10.1% | |
| 4 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 7 | 8.9% | |
| 5 | Arcing | 6 | 7.6% | |
| 6 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 4 | 5.1% | |
| 7 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 4 | 5.1% | |
| 8 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 3 | 3.8% | |
| 9 | Heat, spark from friction | 3 | 3.8% | |
| 10 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 3 | 3.8% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 12 | 15.2% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Salida departments in 2025. These 6 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $10,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $5,000 | Outside storage fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $2,000 | Camper or recreational vehicle (RV) fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $1,400 | Fire in motor home, camper, recreational vehicle | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $1,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $500 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Salida sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 211,341 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 137,760 | 48.3 mi | |
| 2016 | Natural | 16,562 | 18.7 mi | |
| 2018 | Natural | 13,023 | 36.5 mi | |
| 2019 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 8,959 | 8.3 mi | |
| 2000 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 6,600 | 20.4 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 5,000 | 26.9 mi | |
| 2002 | Recreation and ceremony | 4,439 | 31.2 mi | |
| 2011 | Recreation and ceremony | 4,000 | 26.0 mi | |
| 2013 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 3,218 | 35.4 mi | |
| 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,423 | 42.2 mi | |
| 2013 | Natural | 1,152 | 9.7 mi | |
| 2008 | Natural | 1,115 | 38.3 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 Salida. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
2 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Salida.
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.