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In 2025, fire departments serving Sheridan responded to 63 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $100K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 44% of all calls.
Aug peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
352 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $909K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 72 | — | |
| 2022 | 74 | +2.8% | |
| 2023 | 54 | -27.0% | |
| 2024 | 89 | +64.8% | |
| 2025 | 63 | -29.2% |
For the 1 building fires Sheridan departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 111 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 | 24 | 21.6% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 19 | 17.1% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 19 | 17.1% | |
| 4 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 8 | 7.2% | |
| 5 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 7 | 6.3% | |
| 6 | Other | 6 | 5.4% | |
| 7 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 4 | 3.6% | |
| 8 | Equipment or service area, other | 3 | 2.7% | |
| 9 | Wildland, woods | 3 | 2.7% | |
| 10 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 2 | 1.8% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 16 | 14.4% |
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 Sheridan mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 74 | 66.7% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 9 | 8.1% | |
| 3 | Hot ember or ash | 5 | 4.5% | |
| 4 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 4 | 3.6% | |
| 5 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 4 | 3.6% | |
| 6 | Arcing | 3 | 2.7% | |
| 7 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 2 | 1.8% | |
| 8 | Chemical reaction | 2 | 1.8% | |
| 9 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 0.9% | |
| 10 | Heat, spark from friction | 1 | 0.9% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 6 | 5.4% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Sheridan departments in 2025. These 4 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $100,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $3,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $40 | Trash or rubbish fire, contained | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Sheridan sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 235,853 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 | 45.7 mi | |
| 2013 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 16,580 | 47.6 mi | |
| 1996 | Recreation and ceremony | 11,875 | 27.3 mi | |
| 2000 | Smoking | 10,800 | 25.8 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 10,106 | 40.0 mi | |
| 2010 | Debris and open burning | 6,382 | 33.6 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 5,200 | 4.0 mi | |
| 2002 | Equipment and vehicle use | 4,348 | 48.2 mi | |
| 2012 | Debris and open burning | 4,142 | 18.0 mi | |
| 2002 | Natural | 4,085 | 28.9 mi | |
| 2003 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 3,869 | 38.8 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 3,008 | 31.5 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 Colorado cities with population within ±25% of Sheridan. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Sheridan.
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.