In 2025, fire departments serving Chehalis responded to 196 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $35K 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 50% of all calls.
Oct peaks. Feb dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
981 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $1.5M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 209 | — | |
| 2022 | 205 | -1.9% | |
| 2023 | 230 | +12.2% | |
| 2024 | 141 | -38.7% | |
| 2025 | 196 | +39.0% |
For the 33 building fires Chehalis departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 448 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 | 106 | 23.7% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 61 | 13.6% | |
| 3 | Other | 40 | 8.9% | |
| 4 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 40 | 8.9% | |
| 5 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 37 | 8.3% | |
| 6 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 33 | 7.4% | |
| 7 | Cooking area, kitchen | 21 | 4.7% | |
| 8 | Wildland, woods | 12 | 2.7% | |
| 9 | Vehicle area, other | 8 | 1.8% | |
| 10 | Courtyard, patio, porch, terrace | 8 | 1.8% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 82 | 18.3% |
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 Chehalis mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 233 | 52.0% | |
| 2 | Heat source: other | 39 | 8.7% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 24 | 5.4% | |
| 4 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 22 | 4.9% | |
| 5 | Hot ember or ash | 19 | 4.2% | |
| 6 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 17 | 3.8% | |
| 7 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 13 | 2.9% | |
| 8 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 10 | 2.2% | |
| 9 | Match | 10 | 2.2% | |
| 10 | Fireworks | 9 | 2.0% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 52 | 11.6% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Chehalis departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 79% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $35,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $30,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $25,000 | Camper or recreational vehicle (RV) fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $15,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $15,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $13,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $10,000 | Fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $10,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Chehalis sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 4,580 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 | 44.0 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 494 | 47.5 mi | |
| 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 384 | 11.6 mi | |
| 2015 | Natural | 359 | 33.1 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 275 | 43.4 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 268 | 15.9 mi | |
| 2012 | Arson/incendiarism | 229 | 38.3 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 185 | 48.7 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 175 | 13.5 mi | |
| 1998 | Recreation and ceremony | 140 | 17.1 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 127 | 22.3 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 107 | 45.8 mi |
Top 5 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 Chehalis. 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.