In 2025, fire departments serving Superior responded to 37 fire and hazmat incidents . Here's the full picture.
Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 70% of all calls.
Feb peaks. Nov dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
171 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 26 | — | |
| 2022 | 30 | +15.4% | |
| 2023 | 37 | +23.3% | |
| 2024 | 41 | +10.8% | |
| 2025 | 37 | -9.8% |
For the 4 building fires Superior departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 122 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 | Outside area, other | 26 | 21.3% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 22 | 18.0% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 13 | 10.7% | |
| 4 | Wildland, woods | 9 | 7.4% | |
| 5 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 8 | 6.6% | |
| 6 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 8 | 6.6% | |
| 7 | Vehicle area, other | 7 | 5.7% | |
| 8 | Cooking area, kitchen | 3 | 2.5% | |
| 9 | Attic: vacant, crawl space above top story, cupola | 3 | 2.5% | |
| 10 | Bathroom, checkroom, lavatory, locker room | 2 | 1.6% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 21 | 17.2% |
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 Superior mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 63 | 51.6% | |
| 2 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 8 | 6.6% | |
| 3 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 7 | 5.7% | |
| 4 | Heat source: other | 6 | 4.9% | |
| 5 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 4 | 3.3% | |
| 6 | Arcing | 4 | 3.3% | |
| 7 | Hot ember or ash | 4 | 3.3% | |
| 8 | Match | 4 | 3.3% | |
| 9 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 3 | 2.5% | |
| 10 | Heat, spark from friction | 3 | 2.5% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 16 | 13.1% |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Superior sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 893,739 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | Equipment and vehicle use | 193,455 | 35.1 mi | |
| 2019 | Recreation and ceremony | 123,875 | 10.2 mi | |
| 2005 | Natural | 72,000 | 33.4 mi | |
| 2020 | Natural | 61,821 | 31.3 mi | |
| 1996 | Recreation and ceremony | 58,960 | 31.9 mi | |
| 2017 | Natural | 33,826 | 48.8 mi | |
| 2016 | Natural | 30,641 | 42.7 mi | |
| 2020 | Natural | 30,408 | 44.7 mi | |
| 2020 | Natural | 29,639 | 42.2 mi | |
| 2020 | Natural | 28,051 | 48.8 mi | |
| 2020 | Natural | 24,729 | 13.4 mi | |
| 1995 | Natural | 24,505 | 47.6 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 Arizona cities with population within ±25% of Superior. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Superior.
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.