In 2025, fire departments serving Vernal responded to 98 fire and hazmat incidents . Here's the full picture.
Building fires lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 55% of all calls.
Jul peaks. Nov dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
646 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $2.2M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 125 | — | |
| 2022 | 126 | +0.8% | |
| 2023 | 147 | +16.7% | |
| 2024 | 150 | +2.0% | |
| 2025 | 98 | -34.7% |
For the 17 building fires Vernal departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 277 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 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 76 | 27.4% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 38 | 13.7% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 32 | 11.6% | |
| 4 | Outside area, other | 23 | 8.3% | |
| 5 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 16 | 5.8% | |
| 6 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 11 | 4.0% | |
| 7 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 7 | 2.5% | |
| 8 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 7 | 2.5% | |
| 9 | Cargo/trunk area - all vehicles | 6 | 2.2% | |
| 10 | Attic: vacant, crawl space above top story, cupola | 5 | 1.8% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 56 | 20.2% |
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 Vernal mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 93 | 33.6% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 32 | 11.6% | |
| 3 | Hot ember or ash | 32 | 11.6% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 22 | 7.9% | |
| 5 | Fireworks | 14 | 5.1% | |
| 6 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 13 | 4.7% | |
| 7 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 11 | 4.0% | |
| 8 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 10 | 3.6% | |
| 9 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 8 | 2.9% | |
| 10 | Heat, spark from friction | 8 | 2.9% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 34 | 12.3% |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Vernal sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 219,139 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 43,830 | 42.4 mi | |
| 2000 | Natural | 36,700 | 43.1 mi | |
| 2012 | Natural | 20,049 | 49.7 mi | |
| 2002 | Equipment and vehicle use | 20,038 | 34.7 mi | |
| 2017 | Recreation and ceremony | 18,804 | 43.3 mi | |
| 2017 | Natural | 12,839 | 43.8 mi | |
| 2000 | Natural | 11,032 | 36.1 mi | |
| 2020 | Natural | 7,632 | 40.6 mi | |
| 2002 | Smoking | 4,800 | 42.8 mi | |
| 2018 | Equipment and vehicle use | 4,116 | 42.5 mi | |
| 2005 | Natural | 4,047 | 26.7 mi | |
| 2009 | Natural | 3,603 | 37.0 mi |
Top 1 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
| # | ZIP | 5-yr incidents | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 84078 | 646 |
Six Utah cities with population within ±25% of Vernal. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
2 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Vernal.
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.