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In 2025, fire departments serving Superior responded to 64 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $150K 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 72% of all calls.
Jul peaks. Feb dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
274 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $3.9M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 48 | — | |
| 2022 | 74 | +54.2% | |
| 2023 | 48 | -35.1% | |
| 2024 | 40 | -16.7% | |
| 2025 | 64 | +60.0% |
For the 12 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 39 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 | Cooking area, kitchen | 8 | 20.5% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 8 | 20.5% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 5 | 12.8% | |
| 4 | Cargo/trunk area - all vehicles | 3 | 7.7% | |
| 5 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 2 | 5.1% | |
| 6 | Bathroom, checkroom, lavatory, locker room | 2 | 5.1% | |
| 7 | Assembly or sales area, other | 1 | 2.6% | |
| 8 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 1 | 2.6% | |
| 9 | Storage room, area, tank, or bin | 1 | 2.6% | |
| 10 | Equipment or service area, other | 1 | 2.6% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 7 | 17.9% |
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 Superior mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 9 | 23.1% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 7 | 17.9% | |
| 3 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 5 | 12.8% | |
| 4 | Flying brand, ember, spark | 3 | 7.7% | |
| 5 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 2 | 5.1% | |
| 6 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 2 | 5.1% | |
| 7 | Arcing | 2 | 5.1% | |
| 8 | Chemical reaction | 2 | 5.1% | |
| 9 | Heat source: other | 1 | 2.6% | |
| 10 | Hot ember or ash | 1 | 2.6% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 5 | 12.8% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Superior departments in 2025. These 7 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $150,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $150,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $60,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $5,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $1,000 | Grass fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $500 | Cooking fire, confined to container | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $300 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Superior sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 209,299 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | Natural | 87,275 | 47.1 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 14,833 | 48.4 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 12,699 | 44.1 mi | |
| 1996 | Recreation and ceremony | 11,875 | 42.3 mi | |
| 2000 | Smoking | 10,800 | 38.2 mi | |
| 2000 | Recreation and ceremony | 10,599 | 36.5 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 10,106 | 19.2 mi | |
| 2010 | Debris and open burning | 6,382 | 14.4 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 5,200 | 18.7 mi | |
| 2002 | Equipment and vehicle use | 4,348 | 27.0 mi | |
| 2012 | Debris and open burning | 4,142 | 34.6 mi | |
| 2002 | Natural | 4,085 | 47.3 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 Superior. 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.