Home› Counties› CO› Gilpin County
2025 County Report

Fires in Gilpin County, CO

In 2025, fire departments serving Gilpin County responded to 183 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $250K property loss. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as Very High.

973 residents FIPS 08047 11 cities · 4 fire depts
Total incidents
183
637 across 5 years
Building fires
10
15 wildland
Property loss
$991K
$767K structure · $224K contents
Casualties
0 / 0
0 civ deaths · 0 civ inj · 0 FF inj
01 The mix

What kinds of fires happen here?

Power line down lead by count. Top five categories make up about 66% of all calls.

183
Total Incidents
Power line down 43 23.5%
Unauthorized burning 27 14.8%
Authorized controlled burning 19 10.4%
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) 17 9.3%
Carbon monoxide incident 14 7.7%
All other categories 63 34.4%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in Gilpin County?

Dec peaks. Jun dips.

Jan 15
Feb 8
Mar 11
Apr 8
May 18
Jun 6
Jul 11
Aug 18
Sep 18
Oct 10
Nov 11
Dec 49
03 Five-year trend

Year over year in Gilpin County

637 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 110
2022 122
2023 118
2024 104
2025 183
04 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 10 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional
56%
9
Cause undetermined
0%
0
Intentional / arson
6%
1
Equipment / heat source failure
19%
3
Under investigation
6%
1
Act of nature (lightning)
13%
2
05 The biggest fires

10 fires · $767K in losses

Largest single-incident property losses in Gilpin County during 2025. These 10 fires alone account for 100% of the county's total.

#Property lossCityTypeSeverity
1 $250,000 Black Hawk Chemical spill or leak Major
2 $150,000 Black Hawk Building fires Significant
3 $100,000 Central City Building fires Significant
4 $100,000 Black Hawk Building fires Significant
5 $100,000 Blackhawk Building fires Significant
6 $30,000 Central City Building fires Significant
7 $30,000 Central City Passenger vehicle fire Significant
8 $5,000 BLACK HAWK Camper or recreational vehicle (RV) fire Significant
9 $1,000 Central City Passenger vehicle fire Significant
10 $1,000 Black Hawk Fire, other Significant
06 How Gilpin County compares

Gilpin County vs CO vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

188.08
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Gilpin County
188.08
CO avg
8.02
US avg
7.15
10.28
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Gilpin County
10.28
CO avg
0.53
US avg
0.82
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
Gilpin County
0
CO avg
4.8
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in Gilpin County

11 cities mapped to FIPS 08047.

08 First responders

Busiest fire departments in Gilpin County

4 departments report from this county.

TIMBERLINE FIRE AUTHORITY
BLACK HAWK
FDID 04735 138 incidents 33 vol
BLACK HAWK FD
BLACK HAWK
FDID 04705 34 incidents 29 paid
CENTRAL CITY FD
CENTRAL CITY
FDID 04710 21 incidents 1 paid 14 vol
NULL COLORADO SIERRA FD
GOLDEN
FDID 04715 0 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.