In 2025, fire departments serving Tolleson responded to 56 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $100K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Hazardous condition, other lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 55% of all calls.
Apr peaks. Nov dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
278 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2021. $816K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 86 | — | |
| 2022 | 77 | -10.5% | |
| 2023 | 34 | -55.8% | |
| 2024* | 25 | — | |
| 2025 | 56 | — |
* Well below Tolleson's usual volume. That almost always means one or more departments didn't submit a full year to NFIRS, not that fires dropped, so no year-over-year change is shown for it.
For the 6 building fires Tolleson departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 85 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 | 20 | 23.5% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 14 | 16.5% | |
| 3 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 11 | 12.9% | |
| 4 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 8 | 9.4% | |
| 5 | Other | 6 | 7.1% | |
| 6 | Vehicle area, other | 4 | 4.7% | |
| 7 | Equipment or service area, other | 3 | 3.5% | |
| 8 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 3 | 3.5% | |
| 9 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 2 | 2.4% | |
| 10 | Cooking area, kitchen | 2 | 2.4% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 12 | 14.1% |
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 Tolleson mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 65 | 76.5% | |
| 2 | Heat source: other | 4 | 4.7% | |
| 3 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 3 | 3.5% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 2 | 2.4% | |
| 5 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 2 | 2.4% | |
| 6 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 2 | 2.4% | |
| 7 | Hot ember or ash | 2 | 2.4% | |
| 8 | Fireworks | 2 | 2.4% | |
| 9 | Arcing | 1 | 1.2% | |
| 10 | Heat, spark from friction | 1 | 1.2% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 1 | 1.2% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Tolleson departments in 2025. These 2 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $100,000 | Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $1,000 | Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Tolleson sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 718,557 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 | 44.3 mi | |
| 2020 | Equipment and vehicle use | 193,455 | 41.8 mi | |
| 2005 | Natural | 72,000 | 47.9 mi | |
| 2017 | Natural | 33,550 | 49.8 mi | |
| 1995 | Natural | 24,505 | 32.7 mi | |
| 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 14,534 | 42.3 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 14,476 | 39.4 mi | |
| 2020 | Natural | 12,252 | 44.5 mi | |
| 1995 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 9,500 | 39.8 mi | |
| 2019 | Natural | 7,944 | 37.6 mi | |
| 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 7,740 | 40.4 mi | |
| 2019 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 7,470 | 41.0 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 Tolleson. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Tolleson.
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.