In 2025, fire departments serving Battle Ground responded to 261 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $2.0M building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Authorized controlled burning lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 50% of all calls.
Aug peaks. Nov dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
1,315 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2021. $11.7M cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 311 | — | |
| 2022 | 279 | -10.3% | |
| 2023 | 273 | -2.2% | |
| 2024 | 191 | -30.0% | |
| 2025 | 261 | +36.6% |
For the 18 building fires Battle Ground departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 324 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 | Outside area, other | 55 | 17.0% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 51 | 15.7% | |
| 3 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 32 | 9.9% | |
| 4 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 29 | 9.0% | |
| 5 | Other | 22 | 6.8% | |
| 6 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 16 | 4.9% | |
| 7 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 12 | 3.7% | |
| 8 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 12 | 3.7% | |
| 9 | Vehicle area, other | 11 | 3.4% | |
| 10 | Cooking area, kitchen | 9 | 2.8% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 75 | 23.1% |
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 Battle Ground mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 169 | 52.2% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 21 | 6.5% | |
| 3 | Heat source: other | 20 | 6.2% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 18 | 5.6% | |
| 5 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 17 | 5.2% | |
| 6 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 12 | 3.7% | |
| 7 | Fireworks | 11 | 3.4% | |
| 8 | Hot ember or ash | 9 | 2.8% | |
| 9 | Cigarette | 8 | 2.5% | |
| 10 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 7 | 2.2% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 32 | 9.9% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Battle Ground departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 95% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $2,000,000 | Fire, other | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $1,500,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 3 | $1,125,574 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 4 | $402,375 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 5 | $400,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 6 | $300,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 7 | $300,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 8 | $250,000 | Aircraft fire | Major | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Battle Ground sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 127,150 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | Fireworks | 48,488 | 32.4 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 24,995 | 28.9 mi | |
| 1992 | Smoking | 24,400 | 30.3 mi | |
| 2001 | Natural | 7,500 | 16.5 mi | |
| 2011 | Natural | 6,304 | 48.3 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 5,508 | 43.8 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,584 | 39.8 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,508 | 31.0 mi | |
| 2000 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,000 | 33.2 mi | |
| 2020 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 532 | 49.7 mi | |
| 2020 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 497 | 40.2 mi | |
| 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 483 | 39.2 mi |
Top 5 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 Battle Ground. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Battle Ground.
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.