In 2025, fire departments serving Bellingham responded to 188 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $600K 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 56% of all calls.
Apr peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
792 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $5.9M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 143 | — | |
| 2022 | 148 | +3.5% | |
| 2023 | 147 | -0.7% | |
| 2024 | 166 | +12.9% | |
| 2025 | 188 | +13.3% |
For the 16 building fires Bellingham departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 218 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 | 25.2% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 38 | 17.4% | |
| 3 | Cooking area, kitchen | 20 | 9.2% | |
| 4 | Wildland, woods | 14 | 6.4% | |
| 5 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 12 | 5.5% | |
| 6 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 9 | 4.1% | |
| 7 | Other | 7 | 3.2% | |
| 8 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 5 | 2.3% | |
| 9 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 5 | 2.3% | |
| 10 | Wall assembly | 5 | 2.3% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 48 | 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 Bellingham mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 94 | 43.1% | |
| 2 | Cigarette | 19 | 8.7% | |
| 3 | Hot ember or ash | 14 | 6.4% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 13 | 6.0% | |
| 5 | Heat source: other | 12 | 5.5% | |
| 6 | Arcing | 11 | 5.0% | |
| 7 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 8 | 3.7% | |
| 8 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 7 | 3.2% | |
| 9 | Chemical reaction | 6 | 2.8% | |
| 10 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 5 | 2.3% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 29 | 13.3% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Bellingham departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 98% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $600,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $421,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Major | Investigated |
| 3 | $218,500 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $20,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $20,000 | Fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $13,000 | Fires in structures other than in a building | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $12,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Bellingham sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 3,803 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 800 | 30.2 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 700 | 30.2 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 300 | 20.6 mi | |
| 2002 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 300 | 30.2 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 256 | 30.1 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 250 | 30.8 mi | |
| 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 186 | 44.1 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 172 | 30.3 mi | |
| 2020 | Recreation and ceremony | 94 | 43.0 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 90 | 39.8 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 79 | 30.2 mi | |
| 2018 | Debris and open burning | 58 | 28.7 mi |
Top 6 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
Six Massachusetts cities with population within ±25% of Bellingham. 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.