In 2025, fire departments serving Shelton responded to 22 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $1.0M 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 73% of all calls.
Apr peaks. Aug dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
62 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $2.1M cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 6 | — | |
| 2022 | 16 | — | |
| 2023 | 8 | -50.0% | |
| 2024 | 10 | +25.0% | |
| 2025 | 22 | +120.0% |
* Well below Shelton'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 0 building fires Shelton departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 21 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 | 5 | 23.8% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 3 | 14.3% | |
| 3 | Duct: hvac, cable, exhaust, heating, or AC | 2 | 9.5% | |
| 4 | Vehicle area, other | 2 | 9.5% | |
| 5 | Railroad right of way: on or near | 2 | 9.5% | |
| 6 | Other | 1 | 4.8% | |
| 7 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 1 | 4.8% | |
| 8 | Equipment or service area, other | 1 | 4.8% | |
| 9 | Ceiling & floor assembly, crawl space b/t stories | 1 | 4.8% | |
| 10 | Wall assembly | 1 | 4.8% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 2 | 9.5% |
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 Shelton mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Heat source: other | 7 | 33.3% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 5 | 23.8% | |
| 3 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 2 | 9.5% | |
| 4 | Multiple heat sources including multiple ignitions | 2 | 9.5% | |
| 5 | Undetermined | 2 | 9.5% | |
| 6 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 1 | 4.8% | |
| 7 | Heat, spark from friction | 1 | 4.8% | |
| 8 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 1 | 4.8% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Shelton departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $1,000,000 | Rail vehicle fire | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $350,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Major | Investigated |
| 3 | $100,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $100,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $40,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $20,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $10,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $5,000 | Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Shelton sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 20,270 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Debris and open burning | 5,500 | 48.1 mi | |
| 2016 | Debris and open burning | 5,000 | 36.6 mi | |
| 2020 | Debris and open burning | 1,520 | 15.3 mi | |
| 2010 | Recreation and ceremony | 1,000 | 28.0 mi | |
| 2013 | Debris and open burning | 1,000 | 36.5 mi | |
| 2009 | Debris and open burning | 640 | 15.9 mi | |
| 2010 | Debris and open burning | 600 | 30.3 mi | |
| 2015 | Equipment and vehicle use | 500 | 25.3 mi | |
| 2018 | Debris and open burning | 500 | 46.5 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 480 | 49.4 mi | |
| 2009 | Equipment and vehicle use | 440 | 44.4 mi | |
| 2017 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 408 | 46.0 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 Shelton. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Shelton.
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.