In 2025, fire departments serving Rio Blanco County responded to 77 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $1.0M property loss. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as Very High.
Forest, woods or wildland fire lead by count. Top five categories make up about 75% of all calls.
Aug peaks. Dec dips.
352 incidents from 2021 through 2025.
| Year | Incidents | |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 91 | |
| 2022 | 19 | |
| 2023 | 76 | |
| 2024 | 89 | |
| 2025 | 77 |
For the 6 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.
Largest single-incident property losses in Rio Blanco County during 2025. These 10 fires alone account for 98% of the county's total.
| # | Property loss | City | Type | Severity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $1,000,000 | Meeker | Forest, woods or wildland fire | Major |
| 2 | $1,000,000 | Meeker | Natural vegetation fire, other | Major |
| 3 | $1,000,000 | Meeker | Forest, woods or wildland fire | Major |
| 4 | $1,000,000 | Meeker | Forest, woods or wildland fire | Major |
| 5 | $1,000,000 | Meeker | Forest, woods or wildland fire | Major |
| 6 | $1,000,000 | Meeker | Forest, woods or wildland fire | Major |
| 7 | $1,000,000 | Meeker | Forest, woods or wildland fire | Major |
| 8 | $1,000,000 | Meeker | Forest, woods or wildland fire | Major |
| 9 | $1,000,000 | Meeker | Forest, woods or wildland fire | Major |
| 10 | $150,000 | Meeker | Building fires | Significant |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.
7 cities mapped to FIPS 08103.
| City | Population | |
|---|---|---|
| Meeker | 2,500 | View › |
| Rangely | 2,382 | View › |
| White River City | 0 | View › |
| Thornburgh | 0 | View › |
| Rio Blanco | 0 | View › |
| Angora | 0 | View › |
| Buford | 0 | View › |
2 departments report from this county.
Top 10 fire perimeters by acres burned (state-scoped fallback while we build out per-county polygons).
| # | Name | Year | Agency | Acres |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 |
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.