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2025 County Report

Fires in El Paso County, CO

In 2025, fire departments serving El Paso County responded to 4,101 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $450K property loss. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as Very High.

650,659 residents FIPS 08041 43 cities · 25 fire depts
Total incidents
4,101
23,808 across 5 years
Building fires
248
309 wildland
Property loss
$12.6M
$9.1M structure · $3.4M contents
Casualties
2 / 24
2 civ deaths · 17 civ inj · 7 FF inj
01 The mix

What kinds of fires happen here?

Unauthorized burning lead by count. Top five categories make up about 52% of all calls.

4,101
Total Incidents
Unauthorized burning 801 19.5%
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) 524 12.8%
Outside rubbish fire, other 284 6.9%
Outside rubbish, trash or waste fire 273 6.7%
Building fires 248 6.0%
All other categories 1,971 48.1%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in El Paso County?

Mar peaks. Jun dips.

Jan 392
Feb 350
Mar 453
Apr 326
May 312
Jun 275
Jul 340
Aug 304
Sep 301
Oct 332
Nov 382
Dec 334
03 Five-year trend

Year over year in El Paso County

23,808 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 4,760
2022 5,641
2023 4,503
2024 4,803
2025 4,101
04 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 248 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional
48%
350
Cause undetermined
16%
114
Intentional / arson
16%
114
Equipment / heat source failure
12%
88
Under investigation
6%
40
Act of nature (lightning)
2%
17
05 The biggest fires

10 fires · $3.2M in losses

Largest single-incident property losses in El Paso County during 2025. These 10 fires alone account for 35% of the county's total.

#Property lossCityTypeSeverity
1 $450,000 YODER Building fires Major
2 $388,924 Colorado Springs Building fires Major
3 $380,824 Calhan Building fires Major
4 $377,113 Colorado Springs Building fires Major
5 $359,000 Colorado Springs Building fires Major
6 $300,000 YODER Building fires Major
7 $251,863 Colorado Springs Building fires Major
8 $228,970 Colorado Springs Building fires Significant
9 $227,533 Colorado Springs Building fires Significant
10 $219,003 Colorado Springs Building fires Significant
06 How El Paso County compares

El Paso County vs CO vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

6.3
Incidents per 1,000 residents
El Paso County
6.3
CO avg
8.02
US avg
7.15
0.38
Building fires per 1,000 residents
El Paso County
0.38
CO avg
0.53
US avg
0.82
3.1
Civilian fire deaths per million
El Paso County
3.1
CO avg
4.8
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in El Paso County

12 cities mapped to FIPS 08041.

08 First responders

Busiest fire departments in El Paso County

25 departments report from this county.

COLORADO SPRINGS FD
COLORADO SPRINGS
FDID 04118 2,793 incidents 398 paid
SECURITY FPD
SECURITY
FDID 04172 203 incidents 13 paid 52 vol
FALCON FPD
FALCON
FDID 04142 176 incidents 10 paid 37 vol
FOUNTAIN FD
FOUNTAIN
FDID 04148 122 incidents 24 paid 67 vol
CIMARRON HILLS FPD
Colorado Springs
FDID 04115 106 incidents 28 paid 8 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.