In 2025, fire departments serving Yuma responded to 463 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $350K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Outside rubbish, trash or waste fire lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 44% of all calls.
Jan peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
2,996 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $17.7M cumulative property loss. 2 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 554 | — | |
| 2022 | 503 | -9.2% | |
| 2023 | 755 | +50.1% | |
| 2024 | 721 | -4.5% | |
| 2025 | 463 | -35.8% |
For the 24 building fires Yuma departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 888 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 | 192 | 21.6% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 140 | 15.8% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 87 | 9.8% | |
| 4 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 56 | 6.3% | |
| 5 | Cooking area, kitchen | 48 | 5.4% | |
| 6 | Courtyard, patio, porch, terrace | 25 | 2.8% | |
| 7 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 23 | 2.6% | |
| 8 | Cargo/trunk area - all vehicles | 20 | 2.3% | |
| 9 | Bathroom, checkroom, lavatory, locker room | 19 | 2.1% | |
| 10 | Vehicle area, other | 19 | 2.1% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 259 | 29.2% |
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 Yuma mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 490 | 55.2% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 59 | 6.6% | |
| 3 | Heat source: other | 45 | 5.1% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 45 | 5.1% | |
| 5 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 31 | 3.5% | |
| 6 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 28 | 3.2% | |
| 7 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 24 | 2.7% | |
| 8 | Hot ember or ash | 21 | 2.4% | |
| 9 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 14 | 1.6% | |
| 10 | Heat from undetermined smoking material | 14 | 1.6% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 117 | 13.2% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Yuma departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 64% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $350,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $247,500 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $200,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $177,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $150,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $125,000 | Cultivated orchard or vineyard fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $95,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Yuma sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
28 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 | 2 | |
| 10-19 | 1 | |
| 20-29 | 7 | |
| 30-39 | 4 | |
| 40-49 | 2 | |
| 50-59 | 4 | |
| 60-69 | 6 | |
| 70-79 | 2 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 25,052 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 5,169 | 47.3 mi | |
| 2013 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 3,200 | 29.6 mi | |
| 1992 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,400 | 23.6 mi | |
| 1992 | Debris and open burning | 1,800 | 44.7 mi | |
| 2003 | Firearms and explosives use | 1,313 | 19.0 mi | |
| 1992 | Fireworks | 1,285 | 24.7 mi | |
| 2019 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,203 | 16.3 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,110 | 18.7 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 923 | 32.3 mi | |
| 2017 | Natural | 836 | 42.6 mi | |
| 2011 | Arson/incendiarism | 751 | 15.3 mi | |
| 2006 | Natural | 730 | 47.3 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 Arizona cities with population within ±25% of Yuma. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
2 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Yuma.
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.