In 2025, fire departments serving Auburn responded to 921 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $2.2M 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 42% of all calls.
Jul peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
4,953 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $27.3M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 802 | — | |
| 2022 | 1,076 | +34.2% | |
| 2023 | 1,120 | +4.1% | |
| 2024 | 1,034 | -7.7% | |
| 2025 | 921 | -10.9% |
For the 63 building fires Auburn departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 1,173 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 | 245 | 20.9% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 187 | 15.9% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 124 | 10.6% | |
| 4 | Other | 73 | 6.2% | |
| 5 | Cooking area, kitchen | 66 | 5.6% | |
| 6 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 59 | 5.0% | |
| 7 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 58 | 4.9% | |
| 8 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 46 | 3.9% | |
| 9 | Vehicle area, other | 35 | 3.0% | |
| 10 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 22 | 1.9% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 258 | 22.0% |
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 Auburn mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 618 | 52.7% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 76 | 6.5% | |
| 3 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 62 | 5.3% | |
| 4 | Fireworks | 54 | 4.6% | |
| 5 | Heat source: other | 49 | 4.2% | |
| 6 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 45 | 3.8% | |
| 7 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 37 | 3.2% | |
| 8 | Hot ember or ash | 36 | 3.1% | |
| 9 | Arcing | 35 | 3.0% | |
| 10 | Cigarette lighter | 28 | 2.4% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 133 | 11.3% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Auburn departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 78% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $2,245,860 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $1,500,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Major | Investigated |
| 3 | $750,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 4 | $535,500 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 5 | $500,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 6 | $300,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 7 | $250,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 8 | $220,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Auburn sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 63,727 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 52,056 | 46.3 mi | |
| 2018 | Equipment and vehicle use | 3,312 | 46.9 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,243 | 49.8 mi | |
| 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,061 | 37.6 mi | |
| 1997 | Debris and open burning | 594 | 40.3 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 494 | 9.3 mi | |
| 2018 | Natural | 420 | 30.1 mi | |
| 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 384 | 49.9 mi | |
| 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 360 | 38.2 mi | |
| 2015 | Natural | 359 | 37.6 mi | |
| 2003 | Natural | 310 | 33.7 mi | |
| 2012 | Natural | 302 | 48.9 mi |
Top 10 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 Auburn. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Auburn.
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.