In 2025, fire departments serving Clinton responded to 38 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $100K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Power line down lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 53% of all calls.
Aug peaks. Apr dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
275 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2021. $676K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 82 | — | |
| 2022 | 71 | -13.4% | |
| 2023* | 30 | — | |
| 2024 | 54 | — | |
| 2025 | 38 | -29.6% |
* Well below Clinton's usual volume. That almost always means one or more departments didn't submit a full year to NFIRS, not that fires dropped, so no year-over-year change is shown for it.
For the 2 building fires Clinton departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 49 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 | 7 | 14.3% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 5 | 10.2% | |
| 3 | Cooking area, kitchen | 4 | 8.2% | |
| 4 | Fuel tank, fuel line | 4 | 8.2% | |
| 5 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 3 | 6.1% | |
| 6 | Wall surface: exterior | 3 | 6.1% | |
| 7 | Courtyard, patio, porch, terrace | 3 | 6.1% | |
| 8 | Other | 2 | 4.1% | |
| 9 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 2 | 4.1% | |
| 10 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 2 | 4.1% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 14 | 28.6% |
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 Clinton mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 17 | 34.7% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 8 | 16.3% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 4 | 8.2% | |
| 4 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 4 | 8.2% | |
| 5 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 3 | 6.1% | |
| 6 | Heat source: other | 2 | 4.1% | |
| 7 | Candle | 2 | 4.1% | |
| 8 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 2.0% | |
| 9 | Hot ember or ash | 1 | 2.0% | |
| 10 | Fireworks | 1 | 2.0% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 6 | 12.2% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Clinton departments in 2025. These 4 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $6,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $5,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $500 | Camper or recreational vehicle (RV) fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Clinton sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 8,185 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 | 45.1 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,243 | 39.9 mi | |
| 2009 | Natural | 817 | 42.9 mi | |
| 2009 | Natural | 443 | 40.0 mi | |
| 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 360 | 42.0 mi | |
| 1999 | Natural | 294 | 42.4 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 289 | 35.7 mi | |
| 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 216 | 49.5 mi | |
| 2015 | Natural | 200 | 37.7 mi | |
| 2003 | Natural | 170 | 42.3 mi | |
| 1994 | Debris and open burning | 94 | 48.0 mi | |
| 2020 | Debris and open burning | 89 | 20.4 mi |
Top 3 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 Clinton. 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.