In 2025, fire departments serving Colville responded to 116 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $1.0M building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Forest, woods or wildland fire lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 61% of all calls.
Jul peaks. Feb dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
466 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $3.4M cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 106 | — | |
| 2022 | 83 | -21.7% | |
| 2023 | 85 | +2.4% | |
| 2024 | 76 | -10.6% | |
| 2025 | 116 | +52.6% |
For the 21 building fires Colville departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 220 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 | 41 | 18.6% | |
| 2 | Other | 35 | 15.9% | |
| 3 | Undetermined | 25 | 11.4% | |
| 4 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 23 | 10.5% | |
| 5 | Vehicle area, other | 14 | 6.4% | |
| 6 | Function area, other | 10 | 4.5% | |
| 7 | Cooking area, kitchen | 9 | 4.1% | |
| 8 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 9 | 4.1% | |
| 9 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 6 | 2.7% | |
| 10 | Egress/exit, other | 4 | 1.8% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 44 | 20.0% |
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 Colville mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 59 | 26.8% | |
| 2 | Heat source: other | 34 | 15.5% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 18 | 8.2% | |
| 4 | Hot ember or ash | 13 | 5.9% | |
| 5 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 11 | 5.0% | |
| 6 | Heat, spark from friction | 11 | 5.0% | |
| 7 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 10 | 4.5% | |
| 8 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 9 | 4.1% | |
| 9 | Cigarette | 7 | 3.2% | |
| 10 | Match | 7 | 3.2% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 41 | 18.6% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Colville departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 99% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $1,000,000 | Forest, woods or wildland fire | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $500,000 | Fire, other | Major | Investigated |
| 3 | $400,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 4 | $250,000 | Fires in structures other than in a building | Major | Investigated |
| 5 | $250,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 6 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $50,000 | Fires in structures other than in a building | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $45,000 | Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Colville sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 273,902 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | Arson/incendiarism | 64,007 | 41.1 mi | |
| 2015 | Natural | 54,354 | 29.6 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 19,005 | 20.2 mi | |
| 2014 | Natural | 17,459 | 41.3 mi | |
| 2015 | Natural | 13,105 | 21.4 mi | |
| 2015 | Natural | 12,764 | 35.8 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 11,797 | 30.5 mi | |
| 1994 | Natural | 10,580 | 28.5 mi | |
| 2015 | Natural | 8,615 | 20.9 mi | |
| 2001 | Natural | 6,144 | 32.0 mi | |
| 2018 | Natural | 5,889 | 30.8 mi | |
| 2017 | Natural | 5,850 | 34.0 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 Colville. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
2 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Colville.
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.