In 2025, fire departments serving Bellevue responded to 35 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $250K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 63% of all calls.
Jul peaks. Sep dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
72 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $724K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 3 | — | |
| 2022 | 11 | — | |
| 2023* | 8 | — | |
| 2024 | 15 | — | |
| 2025 | 35 | +133.3% |
* Well below Bellevue's usual volume. That almost always means one or more departments didn't submit a full year to NFIRS, not that fires dropped, so no year-over-year change is shown for it.
For the 3 building fires Bellevue departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 22 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 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 5 | 22.7% | |
| 2 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 5 | 22.7% | |
| 3 | Undetermined | 5 | 22.7% | |
| 4 | Other | 2 | 9.1% | |
| 5 | Equipment or service area, other | 2 | 9.1% | |
| 6 | Entrance way, lobby | 1 | 4.5% | |
| 7 | Vehicle area, other | 1 | 4.5% | |
| 8 | Outside area, other | 1 | 4.5% |
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 Bellevue mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 6 | 27.3% | |
| 2 | Heat source: other | 3 | 13.6% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 3 | 13.6% | |
| 4 | Match | 2 | 9.1% | |
| 5 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 4.5% | |
| 6 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 1 | 4.5% | |
| 7 | Arcing | 1 | 4.5% | |
| 8 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 1 | 4.5% | |
| 9 | Heat, spark from friction | 1 | 4.5% | |
| 10 | Molten, hot material | 1 | 4.5% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 2 | 9.1% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Bellevue departments in 2025. These 5 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $250,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $5,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $5,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $3,500 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $1,500 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Bellevue sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 4,883 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | Debris and open burning | 1,500 | 44.6 mi | |
| 2015 | Debris and open burning | 640 | 42.2 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 617 | 48.6 mi | |
| 2014 | Recreation and ceremony | 265 | 27.0 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 200 | 0.4 mi | |
| 2015 | Debris and open burning | 195 | 50.0 mi | |
| 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 165 | 42.7 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 150 | 42.6 mi | |
| 2018 | Debris and open burning | 125 | 46.9 mi | |
| 2009 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 100 | 47.4 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 100 | 15.9 mi | |
| 2004 | Recreation and ceremony | 100 | 36.4 mi |
Top 1 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
| # | ZIP | 5-yr incidents | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 52031 | 72 |
Six Iowa cities with population within ±25% of Bellevue. 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.