In 2025, fire departments serving Burien responded to 333 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $781K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Building fires lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 53% of all calls.
Jul peaks. Jan dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
1,959 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2021. $24.2M cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 476 | — | |
| 2022 | 353 | -25.8% | |
| 2023 | 423 | +19.8% | |
| 2024 | 374 | -11.6% | |
| 2025 | 333 | -11.0% |
For the 48 building fires Burien departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 662 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 | 189 | 28.5% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 88 | 13.3% | |
| 3 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 51 | 7.7% | |
| 4 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 44 | 6.6% | |
| 5 | Cooking area, kitchen | 36 | 5.4% | |
| 6 | Other | 35 | 5.3% | |
| 7 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 22 | 3.3% | |
| 8 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 18 | 2.7% | |
| 9 | Vehicle area, other | 16 | 2.4% | |
| 10 | Courtyard, patio, porch, terrace | 12 | 1.8% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 151 | 22.8% |
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 Burien mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 432 | 65.3% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 33 | 5.0% | |
| 3 | Hot ember or ash | 27 | 4.1% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 26 | 3.9% | |
| 5 | Heat source: other | 23 | 3.5% | |
| 6 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 20 | 3.0% | |
| 7 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 19 | 2.9% | |
| 8 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 11 | 1.7% | |
| 9 | Cigarette | 11 | 1.7% | |
| 10 | Cigarette lighter | 10 | 1.5% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 50 | 7.6% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Burien departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 73% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $781,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $628,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 3 | $558,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 4 | $500,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 5 | $450,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 6 | $420,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 7 | $348,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 8 | $300,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Burien sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 11,993 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 | 37.5 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,243 | 38.9 mi | |
| 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,061 | 47.5 mi | |
| 2009 | Natural | 817 | 41.5 mi | |
| 1997 | Debris and open burning | 594 | 36.4 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 494 | 18.7 mi | |
| 2009 | Natural | 443 | 41.7 mi | |
| 2018 | Natural | 420 | 42.6 mi | |
| 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 360 | 37.4 mi | |
| 2015 | Natural | 359 | 49.4 mi | |
| 2003 | Natural | 310 | 46.6 mi | |
| 1999 | Natural | 294 | 38.0 mi |
Top 10 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 Burien. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Burien.
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.