In 2025, fire departments serving South Salt Lake responded to 273 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $500K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Building fires lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 49% of all calls.
Jul peaks. Jan dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
1,295 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $5.4M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 257 | — | |
| 2022 | 277 | +7.8% | |
| 2023 | 220 | -20.6% | |
| 2024 | 268 | +21.8% | |
| 2025 | 273 | +1.9% |
For the 38 building fires South Salt Lake departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 447 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 | 68 | 15.2% | |
| 2 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 63 | 14.1% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 59 | 13.2% | |
| 4 | Outside area, other | 39 | 8.7% | |
| 5 | Cooking area, kitchen | 36 | 8.1% | |
| 6 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 32 | 7.2% | |
| 7 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 26 | 5.8% | |
| 8 | Vehicle area, other | 17 | 3.8% | |
| 9 | Cargo/trunk area - all vehicles | 9 | 2.0% | |
| 10 | Courtyard, patio, porch, terrace | 9 | 2.0% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 89 | 19.9% |
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 South Salt Lake mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 227 | 50.8% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 33 | 7.4% | |
| 3 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 33 | 7.4% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 27 | 6.0% | |
| 5 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 14 | 3.1% | |
| 6 | Hot ember or ash | 13 | 2.9% | |
| 7 | Heat source: other | 12 | 2.7% | |
| 8 | Cigarette lighter | 11 | 2.5% | |
| 9 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 9 | 2.0% | |
| 10 | Heat, spark from friction | 8 | 1.8% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 60 | 13.4% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by South Salt Lake departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 84% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $500,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $300,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 3 | $100,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $75,000 | Building or structure weakened or collapsed | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $30,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $25,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. South Salt Lake sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
6 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 | 2 | |
| 30-39 | 1 | |
| 40-49 | 1 | |
| 50-59 | 0 | |
| 60-69 | 0 | |
| 70-79 | 0 | |
| 80+ | 1 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 299,297 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | Natural | 44,345 | 40.7 mi | |
| 2013 | Natural | 31,010 | 47.7 mi | |
| 2012 | Natural | 22,045 | 49.6 mi | |
| 2011 | Firearms and explosives use | 16,267 | 46.6 mi | |
| 2000 | Natural | 16,116 | 34.4 mi | |
| 2016 | Natural | 15,330 | 24.1 mi | |
| 2007 | Natural | 14,293 | 35.8 mi | |
| 1998 | Natural | 13,926 | 40.9 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 12,584 | 34.9 mi | |
| 2018 | Firearms and explosives use | 9,880 | 46.0 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 9,000 | 19.3 mi | |
| 2019 | Equipment and vehicle use | 8,906 | 42.9 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 Utah cities with population within ±25% of South Salt Lake. 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.