In 2025, fire departments serving Sun City West responded to 74 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $500 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 76% of all calls.
Jan peaks. Apr dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
407 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $116K cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 82 | — | |
| 2022 | 98 | +19.5% | |
| 2023 | 86 | -12.2% | |
| 2024 | 67 | -22.1% | |
| 2025 | 74 | +10.4% |
For the 30 building fires Sun City West departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 91 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 | 15 | 16.5% | |
| 2 | Cooking area, kitchen | 14 | 15.4% | |
| 3 | Courtyard, patio, porch, terrace | 8 | 8.8% | |
| 4 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 7 | 7.7% | |
| 5 | Vehicle area, other | 6 | 6.6% | |
| 6 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 5 | 5.5% | |
| 7 | Outside area, other | 5 | 5.5% | |
| 8 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 4 | 4.4% | |
| 9 | Wall assembly | 3 | 3.3% | |
| 10 | Roof surface: exterior | 3 | 3.3% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 21 | 23.1% |
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 Sun City West mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 27 | 29.7% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 17 | 18.7% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 11 | 12.1% | |
| 4 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 8 | 8.8% | |
| 5 | Heat source: other | 7 | 7.7% | |
| 6 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 5 | 5.5% | |
| 7 | Lightning | 4 | 4.4% | |
| 8 | Backfire from internal combustion engine | 2 | 2.2% | |
| 9 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 2 | 2.2% | |
| 10 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 1 | 1.1% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 7 | 7.7% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Sun City West departments in 2025. These 2 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $500 | Cooking fire, confined to container | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $1 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Sun City West sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
192 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 | 0 | |
| 20-29 | 38 | |
| 30-39 | 54 | |
| 40-49 | 72 | |
| 50-59 | 27 | |
| 60-69 | 0 | |
| 70-79 | 0 | |
| 80+ | 1 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 726,221 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | Natural | 248,310 | 37.4 mi | |
| 2020 | Equipment and vehicle use | 193,455 | 45.8 mi | |
| 2017 | Natural | 33,550 | 38.1 mi | |
| 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 28,516 | 47.5 mi | |
| 1995 | Natural | 24,505 | 33.7 mi | |
| 1995 | Natural | 22,092 | 48.5 mi | |
| 2012 | Other causes | 16,240 | 39.1 mi | |
| 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 14,534 | 38.9 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 14,476 | 34.5 mi | |
| 2020 | Natural | 12,252 | 28.1 mi | |
| 2005 | Natural | 10,482 | 36.3 mi | |
| 2008 | Recreation and ceremony | 9,629 | 34.8 mi |
Top 3 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 Sun City West. 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.