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2025 County Report

Fires in La Plata County, CO

In 2025, fire departments serving La Plata County responded to 558 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $500K property loss. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as Very High.

23,486 residents FIPS 08067 29 cities · 5 fire depts
Total incidents
558
2,754 across 5 years
Building fires
23
109 wildland
Property loss
$2.4M
$2.0M structure · $449K 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 51% of all calls.

558
Total Incidents
Vehicle accident, general cleanup 70 12.5%
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) 69 12.4%
Authorized controlled burning 50 9.0%
Forest, woods or wildland fire 47 8.4%
Flammable gas or liquid condition, other 47 8.4%
All other categories 275 49.3%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in La Plata County?

Aug peaks. Feb dips.

Jan 59
Feb 32
Mar 44
Apr 57
May 38
Jun 50
Jul 50
Aug 64
Sep 41
Oct 48
Nov 40
Dec 35
03 Five-year trend

Year over year in La Plata County

2,754 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 457
2022 582
2023 580
2024 577
2025 558
04 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 23 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional
49%
27
Cause undetermined
16%
9
Intentional / arson
5%
3
Equipment / heat source failure
16%
9
Under investigation
13%
7
Act of nature (lightning)
1%
0
05 The biggest fires

10 fires · $1.9M in losses

Largest single-incident property losses in La Plata County during 2025. These 10 fires alone account for 98% of the county's total.

#Property lossCityTypeSeverity
1 $500,000 Hesperus Building fires Major
2 $500,000 Hesperus Building fires Major
3 $400,000 Durango Building fires Major
4 $200,000 Ignacio Building fires Significant
5 $100,000 Ignacio Building fires Significant
6 $75,000 Ignacio Building fires Significant
7 $59,000 Durango Camper or recreational vehicle (RV) fire Significant
8 $35,000 Durango Building fires Significant
9 $30,000 Town of Ignacio Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire Significant
10 $15,000 Breen Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire Significant
06 How La Plata County compares

La Plata County vs CO vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

23.76
Incidents per 1,000 residents
La Plata County
23.76
CO avg
8.02
US avg
7.15
0.98
Building fires per 1,000 residents
La Plata County
0.98
CO avg
0.53
US avg
0.82
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
La Plata County
0
CO avg
4.8
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in La Plata County

12 cities mapped to FIPS 08067.

08 First responders

Busiest fire departments in La Plata County

5 departments report from this county.

DURANGO FIRE PROTECTION DIST
DURANGO
FDID 06770 424 incidents 45 paid 73 vol
LOS PINOS FPD
IGNACIO
FDID 06735 95 incidents 9 paid 12 vol
UPPER PINE RIVER FPD
BAYFIELD
FDID 06760 45 incidents 5 paid 65 vol
FORT LEWISMESA FPD
Hesperus
FDID 06745 36 incidents 2 paid 15 vol
DURANGO LAPLATA CTY AIRPORT FD
DURANGO
FDID 06725 0 incidents 6 paid
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.