In 2025, fire departments serving Clarkston responded to 217 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $5.0M 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 47% of all calls.
Jul peaks. Jan dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
980 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $7.9M cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 210 | — | |
| 2022 | 145 | -31.0% | |
| 2023 | 184 | +26.9% | |
| 2024 | 224 | +21.7% | |
| 2025 | 217 | -3.1% |
For the 26 building fires Clarkston departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 300 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 | 70 | 23.3% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 62 | 20.7% | |
| 3 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 34 | 11.3% | |
| 4 | Other | 21 | 7.0% | |
| 5 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 18 | 6.0% | |
| 6 | Cooking area, kitchen | 17 | 5.7% | |
| 7 | Storage area, other | 6 | 2.0% | |
| 8 | Vehicle area, other | 6 | 2.0% | |
| 9 | Cargo/trunk area - all vehicles | 6 | 2.0% | |
| 10 | Exterior, exposed surface | 5 | 1.7% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 55 | 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 Clarkston mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 152 | 50.7% | |
| 2 | Fireworks | 28 | 9.3% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 16 | 5.3% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 15 | 5.0% | |
| 5 | Heat source: other | 14 | 4.7% | |
| 6 | Lightning | 10 | 3.3% | |
| 7 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 9 | 3.0% | |
| 8 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 6 | 2.0% | |
| 9 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 6 | 2.0% | |
| 10 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 6 | 2.0% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 38 | 12.7% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Clarkston departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $5,000,000 | Building fires | Catastrophic | Investigated |
| 2 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $10,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $5,000 | Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $4,000 | Fire in motor home, camper, recreational vehicle | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $1,000 | Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $1,000 | Dumpster or other outside trash receptacle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Clarkston sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
8 fire-related casualties recorded in NFIRS Module 11 across the 2021–2025 window. Age, gender, and severity are coarse-binned — no individual identification possible.
| Age | Count | |
|---|---|---|
| 0-9 | 0 | |
| 10-19 | 0 | |
| 20-29 | 2 | |
| 30-39 | 0 | |
| 40-49 | 1 | |
| 50-59 | 2 | |
| 60-69 | 0 | |
| 70-79 | 0 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 677,535 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | Natural | 80,212 | 41.7 mi | |
| 2012 | Natural | 73,582 | 30.3 mi | |
| 2014 | Natural | 65,200 | 32.4 mi | |
| 2000 | Natural | 64,510 | 32.6 mi | |
| 2000 | Natural | 56,319 | 35.9 mi | |
| 2005 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 52,000 | 32.6 mi | |
| 2007 | Natural | 51,000 | 30.5 mi | |
| 2017 | Natural | 48,567 | 30.7 mi | |
| 2000 | Natural | 32,967 | 49.7 mi | |
| 2015 | Natural | 21,640 | 33.3 mi | |
| 2005 | Natural | 18,177 | 40.8 mi | |
| 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 17,420 | 12.5 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 Clarkston. 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.