In 2025, fire departments serving Bonney Lake responded to 408 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $400K 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 58% of all calls.
Jul peaks. Jan dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
1,832 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $6.8M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 391 | — | |
| 2022 | 327 | -16.4% | |
| 2023 | 344 | +5.2% | |
| 2024 | 362 | +5.2% | |
| 2025 | 408 | +12.7% |
For the 18 building fires Bonney Lake departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 319 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 | 67 | 21.0% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 49 | 15.4% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 42 | 13.2% | |
| 4 | Other | 19 | 6.0% | |
| 5 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 14 | 4.4% | |
| 6 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 10 | 3.1% | |
| 7 | Cooking area, kitchen | 8 | 2.5% | |
| 8 | Bathroom, checkroom, lavatory, locker room | 8 | 2.5% | |
| 9 | Vehicle area, other | 8 | 2.5% | |
| 10 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 8 | 2.5% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 86 | 27.0% |
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 Bonney Lake mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 148 | 46.4% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 31 | 9.7% | |
| 3 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 17 | 5.3% | |
| 4 | Hot ember or ash | 17 | 5.3% | |
| 5 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 16 | 5.0% | |
| 6 | Fireworks | 16 | 5.0% | |
| 7 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 15 | 4.7% | |
| 8 | Arcing | 13 | 4.1% | |
| 9 | Heat source: other | 9 | 2.8% | |
| 10 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 7 | 2.2% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 30 | 9.4% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Bonney Lake departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 87% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $400,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $40,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $30,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $23,500 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $20,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $20,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Bonney Lake sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 64,115 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 | 40.7 mi | |
| 2017 | Natural | 3,853 | 44.6 mi | |
| 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,061 | 34.5 mi | |
| 2009 | Natural | 750 | 47.3 mi | |
| 1997 | Debris and open burning | 594 | 43.0 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 494 | 8.5 mi | |
| 2018 | Natural | 420 | 23.8 mi | |
| 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 384 | 46.4 mi | |
| 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 360 | 43.0 mi | |
| 2015 | Natural | 359 | 29.3 mi | |
| 2007 | Equipment and vehicle use | 350 | 43.6 mi | |
| 2003 | Natural | 321 | 49.0 mi |
Top 4 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 Bonney Lake. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Bonney Lake.
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.