In 2025, fire departments serving Bellevue responded to 58 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $100K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Power line down lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 78% of all calls.
Jun peaks. Jan dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
334 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $520K cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 50 | — | |
| 2022 | 77 | +54.0% | |
| 2023 | 68 | -11.7% | |
| 2024 | 81 | +19.1% | |
| 2025 | 58 | -28.4% |
For the 11 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 99 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 | 17 | 17.2% | |
| 2 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 14 | 14.1% | |
| 3 | Undetermined | 14 | 14.1% | |
| 4 | Cooking area, kitchen | 6 | 6.1% | |
| 5 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 4 | 4.0% | |
| 6 | Outside area, other | 4 | 4.0% | |
| 7 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 4 | 4.0% | |
| 8 | Wildland, woods | 4 | 4.0% | |
| 9 | Entrance way, lobby | 3 | 3.0% | |
| 10 | Substructure area or space, crawl space | 3 | 3.0% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 26 | 26.3% |
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 | 40 | 40.4% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 13 | 13.1% | |
| 3 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 5 | 5.1% | |
| 4 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 5 | 5.1% | |
| 5 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 5 | 5.1% | |
| 6 | Hot ember or ash | 5 | 5.1% | |
| 7 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 4 | 4.0% | |
| 8 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 4 | 4.0% | |
| 9 | Cigarette lighter | 4 | 4.0% | |
| 10 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 4 | 4.0% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 10 | 10.1% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Bellevue departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $15,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $10,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $5,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $3,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $2,500 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $2,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $2,000 | Building fires | 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. 2,049 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | Debris and open burning | 191 | 46.1 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 154 | 42.5 mi | |
| 1994 | Arson/incendiarism | 150 | 46.3 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 143 | 49.9 mi | |
| 1996 | Arson/incendiarism | 142 | 37.6 mi | |
| 1996 | Equipment and vehicle use | 119 | 18.8 mi | |
| 2018 | Natural | 105 | 7.6 mi | |
| 1996 | Arson/incendiarism | 96 | 40.8 mi | |
| 1993 | Smoking | 90 | 46.7 mi | |
| 1996 | Debris and open burning | 80 | 43.9 mi | |
| 2003 | Equipment and vehicle use | 70 | 42.4 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 66 | 48.0 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 Michigan cities with population within ±25% of Bellevue. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Bellevue.
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.