In 2025, fire departments serving Burlington responded to 195 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $100K 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 52% of all calls.
Oct peaks. Mar dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
881 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2021. $1.5M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 231 | — | |
| 2022 | 138 | -40.3% | |
| 2023 | 196 | +42.0% | |
| 2024 | 121 | -38.3% | |
| 2025 | 195 | +61.2% |
For the 40 building fires Burlington departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 273 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 | Outside area, other | 72 | 26.4% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 33 | 12.1% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 27 | 9.9% | |
| 4 | Cooking area, kitchen | 18 | 6.6% | |
| 5 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 18 | 6.6% | |
| 6 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 15 | 5.5% | |
| 7 | Other | 7 | 2.6% | |
| 8 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 7 | 2.6% | |
| 9 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 7 | 2.6% | |
| 10 | Wildland, woods | 6 | 2.2% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 63 | 23.1% |
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 Burlington mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 172 | 63.0% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 17 | 6.2% | |
| 3 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 14 | 5.1% | |
| 4 | Heat source: other | 10 | 3.7% | |
| 5 | Arcing | 10 | 3.7% | |
| 6 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 8 | 2.9% | |
| 7 | Cigarette lighter | 7 | 2.6% | |
| 8 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 6 | 2.2% | |
| 9 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 5 | 1.8% | |
| 10 | Cigarette | 4 | 1.5% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 20 | 7.3% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Burlington departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $33,600 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $25,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $15,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $8,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $5,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $500 | Chimney or flue fire, confined to chimney or flue | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Burlington sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 3,257 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1998 | Recreation and ceremony | 1,162 | 40.6 mi | |
| 1995 | Equipment and vehicle use | 255 | 45.3 mi | |
| 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 216 | 42.1 mi | |
| 2015 | Natural | 200 | 37.7 mi | |
| 2004 | Natural | 173 | 37.4 mi | |
| 2003 | Natural | 170 | 42.6 mi | |
| 2004 | Debris and open burning | 100 | 22.0 mi | |
| 1994 | Debris and open burning | 94 | 28.2 mi | |
| 2020 | Debris and open burning | 89 | 17.6 mi | |
| 1993 | Equipment and vehicle use | 70 | 24.7 mi | |
| 2009 | Natural | 68 | 33.7 mi | |
| 2020 | Debris and open burning | 67 | 24.7 mi |
Top 6 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 Burlington. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
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.