In 2025, fire departments serving West Valley City responded to 629 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $450K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Building fires lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 45% of all calls.
Jun peaks. Feb dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
2,733 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $19.7M cumulative property loss. 3 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 457 | — | |
| 2022 | 535 | +17.1% | |
| 2023 | 516 | -3.6% | |
| 2024 | 596 | +15.5% | |
| 2025 | 629 | +5.5% |
For the 74 building fires West Valley City departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 940 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 | 159 | 16.9% | |
| 2 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 124 | 13.2% | |
| 3 | Undetermined | 120 | 12.8% | |
| 4 | Outside area, other | 109 | 11.6% | |
| 5 | Cooking area, kitchen | 75 | 8.0% | |
| 6 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 32 | 3.4% | |
| 7 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 31 | 3.3% | |
| 8 | Other | 23 | 2.4% | |
| 9 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 23 | 2.4% | |
| 10 | Courtyard, patio, porch, terrace | 23 | 2.4% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 221 | 23.5% |
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 West Valley City mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 315 | 33.5% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 108 | 11.5% | |
| 3 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 78 | 8.3% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 76 | 8.1% | |
| 5 | Heat source: other | 50 | 5.3% | |
| 6 | Fireworks | 46 | 4.9% | |
| 7 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 34 | 3.6% | |
| 8 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 34 | 3.6% | |
| 9 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 29 | 3.1% | |
| 10 | Hot ember or ash | 27 | 2.9% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 143 | 15.2% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by West Valley City departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 50% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $450,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $325,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 3 | $325,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 4 | $325,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Major | Investigated |
| 5 | $325,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Major | Investigated |
| 6 | $325,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Major | Investigated |
| 7 | $300,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 8 | $300,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. West Valley City sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
16 fire-related casualties recorded in NFIRS Module 11 across the 2021–2025 window. Age, gender, and severity are coarse-binned — no individual identification possible.
| Age | Count | |
|---|---|---|
| 0-9 | 0 | |
| 10-19 | 0 | |
| 20-29 | 4 | |
| 30-39 | 5 | |
| 40-49 | 2 | |
| 50-59 | 1 | |
| 60-69 | 1 | |
| 70-79 | 0 | |
| 80+ | 3 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 358,226 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | Natural | 44,345 | 34.7 mi | |
| 2013 | Natural | 31,010 | 42.1 mi | |
| 2007 | Natural | 24,594 | 46.4 mi | |
| 2012 | Natural | 22,045 | 44.7 mi | |
| 2017 | Natural | 21,372 | 49.4 mi | |
| 1998 | Equipment and vehicle use | 20,700 | 45.5 mi | |
| 2011 | Firearms and explosives use | 16,267 | 41.1 mi | |
| 2000 | Natural | 16,116 | 28.9 mi | |
| 2016 | Natural | 15,330 | 21.2 mi | |
| 2007 | Natural | 14,293 | 29.8 mi | |
| 1998 | Natural | 13,926 | 37.4 mi | |
| 1994 | Natural | 13,235 | 48.6 mi |
Top 9 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
Six Utah cities with population within ±25% of West Valley City. 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.