In 2025, fire departments serving Bothell responded to 335 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $500K 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 54% of all calls.
Aug peaks. Mar dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
1,722 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $6.8M cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 369 | — | |
| 2022 | 331 | -10.3% | |
| 2023 | 424 | +28.1% | |
| 2024 | 263 | -38.0% | |
| 2025 | 335 | +27.4% |
For the 42 building fires Bothell departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 502 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 | 131 | 26.1% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 68 | 13.5% | |
| 3 | Other | 41 | 8.2% | |
| 4 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 41 | 8.2% | |
| 5 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 40 | 8.0% | |
| 6 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 27 | 5.4% | |
| 7 | Cooking area, kitchen | 22 | 4.4% | |
| 8 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 10 | 2.0% | |
| 9 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 10 | 2.0% | |
| 10 | Courtyard, patio, porch, terrace | 10 | 2.0% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 102 | 20.3% |
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 Bothell mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 277 | 55.2% | |
| 2 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 29 | 5.8% | |
| 3 | Heat source: other | 28 | 5.6% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 25 | 5.0% | |
| 5 | Cigarette | 22 | 4.4% | |
| 6 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 21 | 4.2% | |
| 7 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 20 | 4.0% | |
| 8 | Hot ember or ash | 19 | 3.8% | |
| 9 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 8 | 1.6% | |
| 10 | Fireworks | 8 | 1.6% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 45 | 9.0% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Bothell departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 82% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $500,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $300,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 3 | $200,000 | Fire in mobile home used as fixed residence | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $150,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $150,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Bothell sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 9,100 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | Equipment and vehicle use | 3,312 | 45.1 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,243 | 42.4 mi | |
| 2009 | Natural | 750 | 48.9 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 494 | 39.8 mi | |
| 2009 | Natural | 443 | 43.8 mi | |
| 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 360 | 30.0 mi | |
| 1999 | Natural | 294 | 43.6 mi | |
| 1995 | Debris and open burning | 290 | 37.5 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 289 | 27.1 mi | |
| 1994 | Natural | 275 | 48.3 mi | |
| 2009 | Natural | 225 | 47.5 mi | |
| 2015 | Natural | 200 | 40.2 mi |
Top 9 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 Bothell. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Bothell.
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.