In 2025, fire departments serving Scottsbluff responded to 140 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $30K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Grass fire lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 59% of all calls.
Jul peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
986 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $4.5M cumulative property loss. 3 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 204 | — | |
| 2022 | 228 | +11.8% | |
| 2023 | 179 | -21.5% | |
| 2024 | 235 | +31.3% | |
| 2025 | 140 | -40.4% |
For the 17 building fires Scottsbluff departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 487 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 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 141 | 29.0% | |
| 2 | Cooking area, kitchen | 59 | 12.1% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 43 | 8.8% | |
| 4 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 31 | 6.4% | |
| 5 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 23 | 4.7% | |
| 6 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 18 | 3.7% | |
| 7 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 16 | 3.3% | |
| 8 | Other | 13 | 2.7% | |
| 9 | Undetermined | 13 | 2.7% | |
| 10 | Courtyard, patio, porch, terrace | 12 | 2.5% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 118 | 24.2% |
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 Scottsbluff mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 131 | 26.9% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 64 | 13.1% | |
| 3 | Hot ember or ash | 63 | 12.9% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 33 | 6.8% | |
| 5 | Fireworks | 31 | 6.4% | |
| 6 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 19 | 3.9% | |
| 7 | Cigarette lighter | 18 | 3.7% | |
| 8 | Heat source: other | 17 | 3.5% | |
| 9 | Match | 16 | 3.3% | |
| 10 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 12 | 2.5% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 83 | 17.0% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Scottsbluff departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 76% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $30,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $21,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $20,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $15,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $10,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $7,500 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $6,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $5,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Scottsbluff sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
11 fire-related casualties recorded in NFIRS Module 11 across the 2021–2025 window. Age, gender, and severity are coarse-binned — no individual identification possible.
| Age | Count | |
|---|---|---|
| 0-9 | 0 | |
| 10-19 | 1 | |
| 20-29 | 0 | |
| 30-39 | 3 | |
| 40-49 | 2 | |
| 50-59 | 2 | |
| 60-69 | 0 | |
| 70-79 | 3 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 102,830 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Natural | 21,080 | 37.0 mi | |
| 2000 | Natural | 16,000 | 16.9 mi | |
| 1999 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 11,520 | 40.1 mi | |
| 2000 | Natural | 9,798 | 41.8 mi | |
| 2002 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 5,000 | 26.4 mi | |
| 2007 | Natural | 5,000 | 22.3 mi | |
| 1996 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 5,000 | 32.7 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 3,850 | 18.5 mi | |
| 2012 | Natural | 3,600 | 34.2 mi | |
| 2005 | Natural | 3,500 | 47.3 mi | |
| 2012 | Equipment and vehicle use | 3,000 | 28.0 mi | |
| 1998 | Natural | 2,200 | 8.2 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 Nebraska cities with population within ±25% of Scottsbluff. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
2 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Scottsbluff.
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.