In 2025, fire departments serving Arlington responded to 352 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $200K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Unauthorized burning lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 58% of all calls.
Jul peaks. Feb dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
2,161 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2021. $10.2M cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 571 | — | |
| 2022 | 487 | -14.7% | |
| 2023 | 430 | -11.7% | |
| 2024 | 321 | -25.3% | |
| 2025 | 352 | +9.7% |
For the 34 building fires Arlington departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 455 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 | 157 | 34.5% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 54 | 11.9% | |
| 3 | Other | 40 | 8.8% | |
| 4 | Outside area, other | 32 | 7.0% | |
| 5 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 32 | 7.0% | |
| 6 | Cooking area, kitchen | 19 | 4.2% | |
| 7 | Wildland, woods | 14 | 3.1% | |
| 8 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 10 | 2.2% | |
| 9 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 9 | 2.0% | |
| 10 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 9 | 2.0% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 79 | 17.4% |
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 Arlington mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 254 | 55.8% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 28 | 6.2% | |
| 3 | Heat source: other | 22 | 4.8% | |
| 4 | Hot ember or ash | 21 | 4.6% | |
| 5 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 19 | 4.2% | |
| 6 | Arcing | 18 | 4.0% | |
| 7 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 11 | 2.4% | |
| 8 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 9 | 2.0% | |
| 9 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 8 | 1.8% | |
| 10 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 7 | 1.5% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 58 | 12.7% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Arlington departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 74% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $200,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $125,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $100,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $75,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $40,000 | Fire in motor home, camper, recreational vehicle | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $40,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $30,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Arlington sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 7,412 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | Natural | 3,166 | 43.5 mi | |
| 1998 | Recreation and ceremony | 1,162 | 40.3 mi | |
| 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 360 | 43.9 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 289 | 34.2 mi | |
| 1995 | Equipment and vehicle use | 255 | 49.9 mi | |
| 2009 | Natural | 225 | 37.6 mi | |
| 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 216 | 34.7 mi | |
| 2004 | Natural | 212 | 44.5 mi | |
| 2015 | Natural | 200 | 24.5 mi | |
| 2004 | Natural | 173 | 47.6 mi | |
| 2003 | Natural | 170 | 29.6 mi | |
| 2015 | Natural | 143 | 44.3 mi |
Top 4 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 Arlington. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
4 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Arlington.
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.