In 2025, fire departments serving San Tan Valley responded to 118 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $100K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Fire, other lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 61% of all calls.
Dec peaks. Jan dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
400 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $1.1M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 0 | — | |
| 2022* | 0 | — | |
| 2023 | 176 | — | |
| 2024 | 106 | -39.8% | |
| 2025 | 118 | +11.3% |
* Well below San Tan Valley'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 1 building fires San Tan Valley departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 142 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 | 37 | 26.1% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 32 | 22.5% | |
| 3 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 15 | 10.6% | |
| 4 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 8 | 5.6% | |
| 5 | Courtyard, patio, porch, terrace | 8 | 5.6% | |
| 6 | Vehicle area, other | 5 | 3.5% | |
| 7 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 5 | 3.5% | |
| 8 | Exterior, exposed surface | 4 | 2.8% | |
| 9 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 4 | 2.8% | |
| 10 | Other | 3 | 2.1% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 21 | 14.8% |
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 San Tan Valley mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 86 | 60.6% | |
| 2 | Heat source: other | 14 | 9.9% | |
| 3 | Hot ember or ash | 10 | 7.0% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 7 | 4.9% | |
| 5 | Arcing | 4 | 2.8% | |
| 6 | Cigarette lighter | 4 | 2.8% | |
| 7 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 3 | 2.1% | |
| 8 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 2 | 1.4% | |
| 9 | Fireworks | 2 | 1.4% | |
| 10 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 2 | 1.4% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 8 | 5.6% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by San Tan Valley departments in 2025. These 7 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $1,500 | Trash or rubbish fire, contained | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $500 | Fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $100 | Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $100 | Fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $50 | Outside rubbish fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $1 | Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. San Tan Valley sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 658,591 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | Equipment and vehicle use | 193,455 | 30.9 mi | |
| 2019 | Recreation and ceremony | 123,875 | 25.8 mi | |
| 2005 | Natural | 72,000 | 34.2 mi | |
| 1996 | Recreation and ceremony | 58,960 | 38.7 mi | |
| 2020 | Natural | 24,729 | 21.8 mi | |
| 1995 | Natural | 24,505 | 37.8 mi | |
| 2020 | Natural | 21,670 | 46.2 mi | |
| 2005 | Natural | 16,100 | 41.1 mi | |
| 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 14,534 | 48.8 mi | |
| 1993 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 12,495 | 48.5 mi | |
| 2005 | Natural | 11,000 | 29.0 mi | |
| 2020 | Natural | 9,539 | 18.7 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 Arizona cities with population within ±25% of San Tan Valley. 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.