In 2025, fire departments serving Bucoda responded to 17 fire and hazmat incidents . Here's the full picture.
Unauthorized burning lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 100% of all calls.
Sep peaks. Nov dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
63 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $53K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 15 | — | |
| 2022 | 8 | -46.7% | |
| 2023 | 13 | +62.5% | |
| 2024 | 10 | -23.1% | |
| 2025 | 17 | +70.0% |
For the 0 building fires Bucoda departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 9 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 | Egress/exit, other | 1 | 11.1% | |
| 2 | Function area, other | 1 | 11.1% | |
| 3 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 1 | 11.1% | |
| 4 | Storage area, other | 1 | 11.1% | |
| 5 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 1 | 11.1% | |
| 6 | Cargo/trunk area - all vehicles | 1 | 11.1% | |
| 7 | Courtyard, patio, porch, terrace | 1 | 11.1% | |
| 8 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 1 | 11.1% | |
| 9 | Undetermined | 1 | 11.1% |
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 Bucoda mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 6 | 66.7% | |
| 2 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 1 | 11.1% | |
| 3 | Hot ember or ash | 1 | 11.1% | |
| 4 | Cigarette lighter | 1 | 11.1% |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Bucoda sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 4,680 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1997 | Debris and open burning | 594 | 35.8 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 494 | 37.5 mi | |
| 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 384 | 7.1 mi | |
| 2015 | Natural | 359 | 27.9 mi | |
| 2006 | Arson/incendiarism | 280 | 47.0 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 275 | 34.6 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 268 | 10.5 mi | |
| 2012 | Arson/incendiarism | 229 | 33.3 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 185 | 42.3 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 175 | 16.9 mi | |
| 1998 | Recreation and ceremony | 140 | 7.1 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 127 | 31.1 mi |
Top 1 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
| # | ZIP | 5-yr incidents | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 98530 | 63 |
Six Washington cities with population within ±25% of Bucoda. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Bucoda.
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.