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2025 County Report

Fires in Delta County, CO

In 2025, fire departments serving Delta County responded to 332 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $350K property loss. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as Very High.

18,114 residents FIPS 08029 25 cities · 5 fire depts
Total incidents
332
1,692 across 5 years
Building fires
25
85 wildland
Property loss
$746K
$583K structure · $163K contents
Casualties
0 / 0
0 civ deaths · 0 civ inj · 0 FF inj
01 The mix

What kinds of fires happen here?

Vehicle accident, general cleanup lead by count. Top five categories make up about 47% of all calls.

332
Total Incidents
Vehicle accident, general cleanup 47 14.2%
Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire 36 10.8%
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) 30 9.0%
Building fires 25 7.5%
Authorized controlled burning 19 5.7%
All other categories 175 52.7%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in Delta County?

Aug peaks. Sep dips.

Jan 25
Feb 26
Mar 37
Apr 32
May 26
Jun 38
Jul 23
Aug 48
Sep 16
Oct 18
Nov 27
Dec 16
03 Five-year trend

Year over year in Delta County

1,692 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 294
2022 412
2023 304
2024 350
2025 332
04 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 25 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional
60%
75
Cause undetermined
5%
6
Intentional / arson
25%
31
Equipment / heat source failure
3%
4
Under investigation
2%
3
Act of nature (lightning)
5%
5
05 The biggest fires

8 fires · $583K in losses

Largest single-incident property losses in Delta County during 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 100% of the county's total.

#Property lossCityTypeSeverity
1 $350,000 PAONIA Building fires Major
2 $200,000 Hotchkiss Building fires Significant
3 $20,000 Delta Fire in motor home, camper, recreational vehicle Significant
4 $10,000 Paonia Passenger vehicle fire Significant
5 $1,500 Delta Forest, woods or wildland fire Significant
6 $1,000 Hotchkiss Forest, woods or wildland fire Significant
7 $500 Paonia Fire, other Significant
8 $1 Paonia Cooking fire, confined to container Significant
06 How Delta County compares

Delta County vs CO vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

18.33
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Delta County
18.33
CO avg
8.02
US avg
7.15
1.38
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Delta County
1.38
CO avg
0.53
US avg
0.82
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
Delta County
0
CO avg
4.8
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in Delta County

12 cities mapped to FIPS 08029.

08 First responders

Busiest fire departments in Delta County

5 departments report from this county.

DELTA COUNTY FPD1
DELTA
FDID 02920 183 incidents 26 vol
CEDAREDGE FDDELTA CTY FPD3
CEDAREDGE
FDID 02905 54 incidents 27 vol
HOTCHKISS DIVDELTA CTY FPD4
HOTCHKISS
FDID 02935 51 incidents 26 vol
PAONIA FDDELTA CTY FPD2
PAONIA
FDID 02940 43 incidents 24 vol
CRAWFORD FDDELTA CTY FPD5
CRAWFORD
FDID 02910 2 incidents 20 vol
09 Historical wildfires

Largest fires recorded in CO

Top 10 fire perimeters by acres burned (state-scoped fallback while we build out per-county polygons).

#NameYearAgencyAcres
1 Cameron Peak 2020 USFS 208,912
2 Pine Gulch 2020 BLM 138,802
3 Hayman 2002 USFS 137,760
4 Spring Creek 2018 BLM 108,045
5 High Park 2012 BLM 87,306
6 MISSIONARY RIDGE 2002 USFS 70,480
7 WEST FORK 2013 USFS 56,575
8 416 2018 USFS 54,130
9 Papoose 2013 USFS 49,282
10 Bridger 2008 BLM 46,588

About this data

County-level NFIRS aggregates for 2025, plus 5-year totals across 2021–2025. NFIRS is voluntary — about 23,000 of roughly 30,000 US fire departments report — so totals are a strong indicator, not a complete census. Wildfire risk score (0–100) and Expected Annual Loss come from FEMA's National Risk Index. Drought class is the most recent USDM classification (D0 = abnormally dry through D4 = exceptional drought). Historical fire perimeters are sourced from the NIFC InterAgency Fire Perimeter History.