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2025 County Report

Fires in Mesa County, CO

In 2025, fire departments serving Mesa County responded to 1,536 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $400K property loss. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as Very High.

128,101 residents FIPS 08077 32 cities · 9 fire depts
Total incidents
1,536
6,828 across 5 years
Building fires
114
211 wildland
Property loss
$7.1M
$5.2M structure · $1.9M contents
Casualties
2 / 12
2 civ deaths · 12 civ inj · 0 FF inj
01 The mix

What kinds of fires happen here?

Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) lead by count. Top five categories make up about 52% of all calls.

1,536
Total Incidents
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) 219 14.3%
Unauthorized burning 157 10.2%
Authorized controlled burning 144 9.4%
Carbon monoxide incident 142 9.2%
Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire 130 8.5%
All other categories 744 48.4%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in Mesa County?

Mar peaks. Dec dips.

Jan 130
Feb 109
Mar 189
Apr 135
May 104
Jun 140
Jul 138
Aug 155
Sep 98
Oct 137
Nov 107
Dec 94
03 Five-year trend

Year over year in Mesa County

6,828 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 1,280
2022 1,304
2023 1,271
2024 1,437
2025 1,536
04 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 114 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional
39%
109
Cause undetermined
21%
60
Intentional / arson
12%
34
Equipment / heat source failure
14%
39
Under investigation
5%
14
Act of nature (lightning)
9%
7
05 The biggest fires

10 fires · $2.5M in losses

Largest single-incident property losses in Mesa County during 2025. These 10 fires alone account for 48% of the county's total.

#Property lossCityTypeSeverity
1 $400,000 Grand Junction Building fires Major
2 $371,300 Grand Junction Building fires Major
3 $360,000 Grand Junction Building fires Major
4 $330,000 Clifton Building fires Major
5 $250,000 Loma Building fires Major
6 $200,000 Grand Junction Building fires Significant
7 $200,000 Grand Junction Building fires Significant
8 $150,000 Clifton Building fires Significant
9 $100,000 Clifton Camper or recreational vehicle (RV) fire Significant
10 $100,000 Grand Junction Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other Significant
06 How Mesa County compares

Mesa County vs CO vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

11.99
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Mesa County
11.99
CO avg
8.02
US avg
7.15
0.89
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Mesa County
0.89
CO avg
0.53
US avg
0.82
15.6
Civilian fire deaths per million
Mesa County
15.6
CO avg
4.8
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in Mesa County

12 cities mapped to FIPS 08077.

08 First responders

Busiest fire departments in Mesa County

9 departments report from this county.

GRAND JUNCTION FD
GRAND JUNCTION
FDID 07735 853 incidents 110 paid
CLIFTON FPD
CLIFTON
FDID 07710 252 incidents 8 paid 24 vol
LOWER VALLEY FPD
FRUITA
FDID 07740 246 incidents 3 paid 28 vol
PALISADE FD
PALISADE
FDID 07750 87 incidents 2 paid 32 vol
PLATEAU VALLEY FPD
COLLBRAN
FDID 07755 62 incidents 1 paid 36 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.