In 2025, fire departments serving Brush Prairie responded to 75 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $100K 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 76% of all calls.
Oct peaks. Mar dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
348 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $2.3M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 72 | — | |
| 2022 | 61 | -15.3% | |
| 2023 | 72 | +18.0% | |
| 2024 | 68 | -5.6% | |
| 2025 | 75 | +10.3% |
For the 2 building fires Brush Prairie departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 71 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 | 13 | 18.3% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 9 | 12.7% | |
| 3 | Other | 8 | 11.3% | |
| 4 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 7 | 9.9% | |
| 5 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 4 | 5.6% | |
| 6 | Storage area, other | 3 | 4.2% | |
| 7 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 3 | 4.2% | |
| 8 | Ceiling & floor assembly, crawl space b/t stories | 3 | 4.2% | |
| 9 | Vehicle area, other | 3 | 4.2% | |
| 10 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 3 | 4.2% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 15 | 21.1% |
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 Brush Prairie mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 31 | 43.7% | |
| 2 | Heat source: other | 8 | 11.3% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 8 | 11.3% | |
| 4 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 5 | 7.0% | |
| 5 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 5 | 7.0% | |
| 6 | Arcing | 3 | 4.2% | |
| 7 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 2 | 2.8% | |
| 8 | Cigarette | 2 | 2.8% | |
| 9 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 2 | 2.8% | |
| 10 | Heat, spark from friction | 1 | 1.4% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 4 | 5.6% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Brush Prairie departments in 2025. These 5 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $5,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $2,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $2,000 | Cooking fire, confined to container | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $1,000 | Outside equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Brush Prairie sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 127,150 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | Fireworks | 48,488 | 31.8 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 24,995 | 30.7 mi | |
| 1992 | Smoking | 24,400 | 29.9 mi | |
| 2001 | Natural | 7,500 | 12.9 mi | |
| 2011 | Natural | 6,304 | 46.9 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 5,508 | 40.7 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,584 | 36.3 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,508 | 27.7 mi | |
| 2000 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,000 | 33.0 mi | |
| 2020 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 532 | 46.1 mi | |
| 2020 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 497 | 36.7 mi | |
| 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 483 | 41.0 mi |
Top 2 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 Brush Prairie. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Brush Prairie.
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.