In 2025, fire departments serving DuPont responded to 41 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $10K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Cooking fire, confined to container lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 54% of all calls.
Aug peaks. Jan dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
182 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $1.8M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 27 | — | |
| 2022 | 45 | +66.7% | |
| 2023 | 37 | -17.8% | |
| 2024 | 32 | -13.5% | |
| 2025 | 41 | +28.1% |
For the 1 building fires DuPont departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 40 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 | 8 | 20.0% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 6 | 15.0% | |
| 3 | Other | 5 | 12.5% | |
| 4 | Outside area, other | 5 | 12.5% | |
| 5 | Wall surface: exterior | 3 | 7.5% | |
| 6 | Vehicle area, other | 3 | 7.5% | |
| 7 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 3 | 7.5% | |
| 8 | Cooking area, kitchen | 1 | 2.5% | |
| 9 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 1 | 2.5% | |
| 10 | Duct: hvac, cable, exhaust, heating, or AC | 1 | 2.5% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 4 | 10.0% |
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 DuPont mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 25 | 62.5% | |
| 2 | Heat source: other | 4 | 10.0% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 2 | 5.0% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 2 | 5.0% | |
| 5 | Cigarette | 2 | 5.0% | |
| 6 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 2.5% | |
| 7 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 1 | 2.5% | |
| 8 | Hot ember or ash | 1 | 2.5% | |
| 9 | Cigarette lighter | 1 | 2.5% | |
| 10 | Sunlight | 1 | 2.5% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by DuPont departments in 2025. These 2 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $10,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $5,000 | Cooking fire, confined to container | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. DuPont sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 12,709 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 | 39.5 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,243 | 45.8 mi | |
| 2006 | Fireworks | 1,100 | 40.8 mi | |
| 2009 | Natural | 817 | 46.7 mi | |
| 1997 | Debris and open burning | 594 | 23.7 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 494 | 15.8 mi | |
| 2009 | Natural | 443 | 49.4 mi | |
| 2018 | Natural | 420 | 44.4 mi | |
| 2010 | Natural | 385 | 47.0 mi | |
| 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 384 | 25.7 mi | |
| 2015 | Natural | 359 | 29.5 mi | |
| 2003 | Natural | 310 | 45.2 mi |
Top 2 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 DuPont. 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.