Boulder Fires & Arsons (2021–2024)

Access the full report

The full published report may be viewed here:

👉 Boulder Fires & Arsons (2021–2024)

About this report

This report documents significant fire, arson, and suspicious fire incidents occurring in Boulder, Colorado between 2021 and 2024 using publicly available information including police and fire reports, emergency radio traffic, court records, media coverage, and other public-safety sources.

The archive was created to preserve a structured historical record of fire-related incidents that are often scattered across disconnected public records systems, temporary news coverage, or difficult-to-search government databases.

Incidents included in this report range from structure fires and vehicle fires to suspicious outdoor fires, encampment fires, arson investigations, explosions, and other major emergency responses occurring throughout Boulder during the reporting period.

Whenever possible, incidents were supplemented using official reports, photographs, court filings, or other publicly available records in order to provide additional context and historical documentation.

Why this report exists

Fire incidents often disappear quickly from public attention despite causing substantial impacts to neighborhoods, businesses, emergency responders, and affected individuals.

This archive attempts to preserve a searchable and organized public-interest record of significant fire activity in Boulder over time, including incidents that may otherwise become difficult to locate or reconstruct later.

In some cases, the report also documents broader patterns involving repeated fires at specific locations, encampment-related fire activity, suspicious ignition circumstances, or major emergency-response events that generated significant public concern.

Important notes regarding sources and methodology

Some incidents documented here were initially identified through real-time police, fire, or EMS radio traffic prior to the encryption of Boulder Police routine dispatch channels in October 2025.

Scanner traffic reflects information as initially reported to dispatchers and responding personnel and may later prove incomplete or inaccurate.

Descriptions included in this archive generally reflect reported incidents and emergency responses rather than adjudicated findings regarding criminal responsibility or final fire-investigation conclusions.

Whenever possible, entries were cross-referenced using publicly available police reports, fire reports, court records, media coverage, or other official documentation.

Topics covered

This report includes incidents involving:

  • structure fires,
  • suspicious fires,
  • arson investigations,
  • vehicle fires,
  • encampment fires,
  • dumpster and vegetation fires,
  • explosions,
  • emergency evacuations,
  • large fire-department responses,
  • and other major fire-related incidents occurring in Boulder between 2021 and 2024.

Some entries also include photographs, scene documentation, or follow-up investigative information when publicly available.

Related reports

Additional Boulder Public Safety Project reports and archives are available through the main reports index.

Related reports include: