In 2025, fire departments serving Williams responded to 72 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $650K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Gasoline or other flammable liquid spill lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 46% of all calls.
Jan peaks. Jun dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
251 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $1.8M cumulative property loss. 2 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 33 | — | |
| 2022 | 47 | +42.4% | |
| 2023 | 59 | +25.5% | |
| 2024 | 40 | -32.2% | |
| 2025 | 72 | +80.0% |
For the 3 building fires Williams departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 89 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 | 21 | 23.6% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 13 | 14.6% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 10 | 11.2% | |
| 4 | Vehicle area, other | 7 | 7.9% | |
| 5 | Cooking area, kitchen | 5 | 5.6% | |
| 6 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 5 | 5.6% | |
| 7 | Wildland, woods | 5 | 5.6% | |
| 8 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 4 | 4.5% | |
| 9 | Cargo/trunk area - all vehicles | 3 | 3.4% | |
| 10 | Other | 2 | 2.2% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 14 | 15.7% |
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 Williams mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 33 | 37.1% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 9 | 10.1% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 7 | 7.9% | |
| 4 | Heat, spark from friction | 6 | 6.7% | |
| 5 | Hot ember or ash | 6 | 6.7% | |
| 6 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 5 | 5.6% | |
| 7 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 4 | 4.5% | |
| 8 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 3 | 3.4% | |
| 9 | Arcing | 3 | 3.4% | |
| 10 | Heat source: other | 2 | 2.2% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 11 | 12.4% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Williams departments in 2025. These 5 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $650,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $500,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 3 | $50,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $10,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $5,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Williams sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 251,718 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 22,077 | 31.7 mi | |
| 2017 | Natural | 18,072 | 48.4 mi | |
| 2017 | Natural | 17,788 | 23.6 mi | |
| 2004 | Natural | 17,218 | 48.7 mi | |
| 1996 | Natural | 16,400 | 25.9 mi | |
| 2010 | Recreation and ceremony | 15,075 | 31.7 mi | |
| 2009 | Natural | 13,790 | 21.4 mi | |
| 2008 | Natural | 10,788 | 16.3 mi | |
| 2014 | Natural | 10,748 | 12.6 mi | |
| 2014 | Natural | 8,871 | 45.8 mi | |
| 2000 | Natural | 8,759 | 18.5 mi | |
| 1996 | Debris and open burning | 8,650 | 25.6 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 Williams. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
2 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Williams.
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.