ZIP 81526 recorded 82 fire and hazmat incidents in 2025, 426 across 2021–2025. Primary county: Mesa County, CO. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as Very High.
426 incidents from 2021 through 2025 inside this ZIP.
| Year | Incidents | |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 74 | |
| 2022 | 112 | |
| 2023 | 78 | |
| 2024 | 80 | |
| 2025 | 82 |
Mar peaks. Dec dips. Aggregated across all 5 years inside this ZIP.
Top 5 NFIRS incident types for ZIP 81526 across 2021–2025.
| # | Incident type | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire | 70 | 16.4% | |
| 2 | Authorized controlled burning | 56 | 13.1% | |
| 3 | Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) | 35 | 8.2% | |
| 4 | Fire, other | 29 | 6.8% | |
| 5 | Carbon monoxide incident | 29 | 6.8% |
For the 6 building fires reported here in 2025, here's how investigators classified ignition cause.
NFIRS Area of Origin for ZIP 81526 fires across 2021–2025.
| # | Area of origin | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 26 | 27.1% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 14 | 14.6% | |
| 3 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 14 | 14.6% | |
| 4 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 8 | 8.3% | |
| 5 | Cooking area, kitchen | 7 | 7.3% | |
| 6 | Other | 6 | 6.2% | |
| 7 | Vehicle area, other | 3 | 3.1% | |
| 8 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 2 | 2.1% | |
| 9 | All other areas | 16 | 16.7% |
NFIRS HEAT_SOURC code — the physical thing that started the fire.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 33 | 34.4% | |
| 2 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 15 | 15.6% | |
| 3 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 10 | 10.4% | |
| 4 | Heat source: other | 9 | 9.4% | |
| 5 | Arcing | 8 | 8.3% | |
| 6 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 3 | 3.1% | |
| 7 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 3 | 3.1% | |
| 8 | Hot ember or ash | 3 | 3.1% | |
| 9 | All other sources | 12 | 12.5% |
Largest single-incident losses in ZIP 81526 across 2021–2025. These 8 fires alone account for 2145% of the ZIP's 2025 reported total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Year | Severity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $1,500,000 | Building fires | 2024 | Major |
| 2 | $100,000 | Fires in structures other than in a building | 2024 | Significant |
| 3 | $25,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | 2025 | Significant |
| 4 | $20,000 | Building fires | 2023 | Significant |
| 5 | $20,000 | Camper or recreational vehicle (RV) fire | 2025 | Significant |
| 6 | $15,000 | Building fires | 2022 | Significant |
| 7 | $15,000 | Building fires | 2024 | Significant |
| 8 | $10,000 | Building fires | 2025 | Significant |
Some ZIPs span multiple cities. Ranked by 5-yr NFIRS incidents inside ZIP 81526.
| # | City | 5-yr incidents | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Palisade | 376 | |
| 2 | Grand Junction | 5 | |
| 3 | Clifton | 3 |
The figures above are historical. For today's air quality, fire-weather warnings, and active fires, go to the official sources.
NFIRS reports each fire incident with a 5-digit address ZIP. We aggregate those rows directly to produce ZIP-level totals — 426 incidents in this ZIP across 2021–2025. Building-fire breakdowns (Area of Origin, Heat Source, ignition cause) only count fires investigators classified beyond the basic incident report. Because NFIRS reporting is voluntary, totals are a strong indicator rather than a complete census.