Laramie Keep the Wreath Red Campaign Reports Four Holiday Fires

The City of Laramie reported that its Keep the Wreath Red campaign identified four fires during the 2025 holiday season, prompting firefighters to replace four red bulbs with white on the campaign display. The red-to-white bulb program is designed to give a visible accounting of incidents that occurred while many households were cooking, decorating, and hosting guests.

The Laramie Fire Department also answered 4,640 emergency 911 calls in 2025, underscoring the volume of demand on local fire and emergency services. The Keep the Wreath Red results join those figures as part of the department’s outreach and prevention work aimed at reducing holiday and year-round fire risk across Albany County.

Local officials emphasized that cooking appliances remain the leading cause of home fires. Practical, low-cost precautions can lower that risk: stay in the kitchen while food is cooking, keep a fire extinguisher readily accessible, and for grease fires turn off the burner and cover the pan. Those steps are the core of the department’s guidance to families, renters, and student households in Laramie who may juggle shared kitchens and holiday meals.

The program’s visible bulb replacements are intended to make fire statistics concrete for residents. Seeing a red bulb switch to white serves as a reminder that a neighbor experienced an emergency and that common, preventable behaviors contribute to calls for service. For volunteer firefighters and career crews alike, fewer preventable incidents free resources for true emergencies and help keep response times steady.

Beyond individual safety measures, the department’s numbers have broader implications for community planning. A city fielding thousands of 911 calls must balance prevention campaigns, training, and equipment readiness. The seasonal uptick in cooking-related incidents is a predictable pressure point, and the Keep the Wreath Red campaign is one of the department’s public-facing efforts to shift behavior during high-risk weeks.

Residents seeking more information or wanting proactive checks on holiday decorations and cooking safety can contact the Laramie Fire Prevention Division through the city website at cityoflaramie.org/CivicAlerts.aspx?AID=2708. The department encourages households to review escape plans, ensure extinguishers are within reach, and refresh basic fire safety habits before the next holiday season.

The four bulb changes are a small but visible sign of a recurring problem. For Laramie households, the takeaway is straightforward: simple precautions in the kitchen can prevent a white bulb from appearing on the wreath next year and keep emergency crews available for the most serious calls.