In 2025, fire departments serving Airway Heights responded to 92 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $623K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Building fires lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 54% of all calls.
Apr peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
512 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $1.2M cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 105 | — | |
| 2022 | 83 | -21.0% | |
| 2023 | 121 | +45.8% | |
| 2024 | 111 | -8.3% | |
| 2025 | 92 | -17.1% |
For the 19 building fires Airway Heights departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 166 building fires investigators classified across 2021–2025. The room or location where ignition occurred — kitchens, bedrooms, exterior, vehicle areas — tells you where to focus prevention.
| # | Area of origin | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 22 | 13.3% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 20 | 12.0% | |
| 3 | Cooking area, kitchen | 19 | 11.4% | |
| 4 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 15 | 9.0% | |
| 5 | Outside area, other | 14 | 8.4% | |
| 6 | Other | 6 | 3.6% | |
| 7 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 6 | 3.6% | |
| 8 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 6 | 3.6% | |
| 9 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 5 | 3.0% | |
| 10 | Bathroom, checkroom, lavatory, locker room | 5 | 3.0% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 48 | 28.9% |
NFIRS Heat Source (HEAT_SOURC) — the physical thing that started it. Spark or ember from operating equipment, an open flame, smoking materials, or hot embers from a fireplace are the leading culprits nationwide. Here's the Airway Heights mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 88 | 53.0% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 19 | 11.4% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 8 | 4.8% | |
| 4 | Heat source: other | 7 | 4.2% | |
| 5 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 7 | 4.2% | |
| 6 | Fireworks | 7 | 4.2% | |
| 7 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 4 | 2.4% | |
| 8 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 4 | 2.4% | |
| 9 | Hot ember or ash | 4 | 2.4% | |
| 10 | Cigarette lighter | 4 | 2.4% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 14 | 8.4% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Airway Heights departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $622,500 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $40,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $20,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $5,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $5,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $1,500 | Camper or recreational vehicle (RV) fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $1,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $1,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Airway Heights sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
5 fire-related casualties recorded in NFIRS Module 11 across the 2021–2025 window. Age, gender, and severity are coarse-binned — no individual identification possible.
| Age | Count | |
|---|---|---|
| 0-9 | 0 | |
| 10-19 | 1 | |
| 20-29 | 1 | |
| 30-39 | 1 | |
| 40-49 | 1 | |
| 50-59 | 1 | |
| 60-69 | 0 | |
| 70-79 | 0 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 342,102 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 127,430 | 32.0 mi | |
| 2015 | Arson/incendiarism | 64,007 | 37.9 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 19,090 | 39.7 mi | |
| 1998 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 18,120 | 42.7 mi | |
| 2016 | Equipment and vehicle use | 18,117 | 28.1 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 15,269 | 26.1 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 11,797 | 48.6 mi | |
| 2014 | Firearms and explosives use | 10,552 | 26.5 mi | |
| 2003 | Arson/incendiarism | 10,500 | 42.0 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 6,017 | 16.2 mi | |
| 2005 | Recreation and ceremony | 5,178 | 40.2 mi | |
| 2018 | Equipment and vehicle use | 5,046 | 24.1 mi |
Top 3 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
Six Washington cities with population within ±25% of Airway Heights. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
A 30-minute weekend can cut your home's exposure substantially. These four checklists are a good starting point.
Numbers reflect incidents reported by participating fire departments to the National Fire Incident Reporting System (NFIRS) Public Data Release for calendar year 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. Per-capita comparisons use 2023 ACS population estimates. Wildland fire data complements NFIRS with NIFC and USFS perimeters. Active-fire counts come from a dated NIFC snapshot, not a live feed.