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In 2025, fire departments serving Watkins responded to 66 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $612K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Passenger vehicle fire lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 47% of all calls.
Aug peaks. Apr dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
263 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $2.5M cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 39 | — | |
| 2022 | 55 | +41.0% | |
| 2023* | 30 | — | |
| 2024 | 73 | — | |
| 2025 | 66 | -9.6% |
* Well below Watkins'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 Watkins departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 76 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 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 24 | 31.6% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 14 | 18.4% | |
| 3 | Vehicle area, other | 5 | 6.6% | |
| 4 | Exterior, exposed surface | 5 | 6.6% | |
| 5 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 4 | 5.3% | |
| 6 | Outside area, other | 4 | 5.3% | |
| 7 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 4 | 5.3% | |
| 8 | Other | 3 | 3.9% | |
| 9 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 2 | 2.6% | |
| 10 | Fuel tank, fuel line | 2 | 2.6% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 9 | 11.8% |
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 Watkins mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 33 | 43.4% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 9 | 11.8% | |
| 3 | Heat, spark from friction | 8 | 10.5% | |
| 4 | Heat source: other | 4 | 5.3% | |
| 5 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 4 | 5.3% | |
| 6 | Arcing | 4 | 5.3% | |
| 7 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 3 | 3.9% | |
| 8 | Hot ember or ash | 2 | 2.6% | |
| 9 | Cigarette | 2 | 2.6% | |
| 10 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 1.3% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 6 | 7.9% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Watkins departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 93% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $612,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $300,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Major | Investigated |
| 3 | $175,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $60,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $60,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $30,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $30,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $29,400 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Watkins sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 84,646 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 12,699 | 47.9 mi | |
| 1996 | Recreation and ceremony | 11,875 | 47.6 mi | |
| 2000 | Smoking | 10,800 | 47.8 mi | |
| 2010 | Debris and open burning | 6,382 | 49.3 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 5,200 | 27.3 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 4,200 | 44.1 mi | |
| 2012 | Debris and open burning | 4,142 | 38.6 mi | |
| 2002 | Natural | 4,085 | 45.1 mi | |
| 2018 | Natural | 3,713 | 44.9 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 3,008 | 39.1 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,000 | 34.6 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,000 | 30.5 mi |
Top 7 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 Watkins. 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.