In 2025, fire departments serving San Luis responded to 48 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $100K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Passenger vehicle fire lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 60% of all calls.
Jun peaks. Jul dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
257 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $915K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 38 | — | |
| 2022 | 53 | +39.5% | |
| 2023 | 51 | -3.8% | |
| 2024 | 67 | +31.4% | |
| 2025 | 48 | -28.4% |
For the 5 building fires San Luis departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 141 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 | 43 | 30.5% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 17 | 12.1% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 15 | 10.6% | |
| 4 | Cooking area, kitchen | 10 | 7.1% | |
| 5 | Vehicle area, other | 10 | 7.1% | |
| 6 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 6 | 4.3% | |
| 7 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 5 | 3.5% | |
| 8 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 5 | 3.5% | |
| 9 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 4 | 2.8% | |
| 10 | Structural area, other | 4 | 2.8% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 22 | 15.6% |
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 San Luis mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 66 | 46.8% | |
| 2 | Heat source: other | 24 | 17.0% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 16 | 11.3% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 7 | 5.0% | |
| 5 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 5 | 3.5% | |
| 6 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 4 | 2.8% | |
| 7 | Heat, spark from friction | 3 | 2.1% | |
| 8 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 3 | 2.1% | |
| 9 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 3 | 2.1% | |
| 10 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 2 | 1.4% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 8 | 5.7% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by San Luis departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $12,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $10,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $8,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $3,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $2,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $2,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $2,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. San Luis sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 17,903 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 3,200 | 37.6 mi | |
| 1992 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,400 | 33.6 mi | |
| 2003 | Firearms and explosives use | 1,313 | 29.7 mi | |
| 1992 | Fireworks | 1,285 | 34.7 mi | |
| 2019 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,203 | 26.8 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,110 | 29.5 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 923 | 43.4 mi | |
| 2017 | Natural | 836 | 49.5 mi | |
| 2011 | Arson/incendiarism | 751 | 25.5 mi | |
| 1999 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 500 | 31.1 mi | |
| 1997 | Arson/incendiarism | 500 | 48.8 mi | |
| 1993 | Natural | 480 | 37.7 mi |
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 Arizona cities with population within ±25% of San Luis. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in San Luis.
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.