In 2025, fire departments serving East Wenatchee responded to 179 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $500K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Unauthorized burning lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 53% of all calls.
Oct peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
996 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2021. $1.4M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 244 | — | |
| 2022 | 185 | -24.2% | |
| 2023 | 188 | +1.6% | |
| 2024 | 200 | +6.4% | |
| 2025 | 179 | -10.5% |
For the 10 building fires East Wenatchee departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 364 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 | 85 | 23.4% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 58 | 15.9% | |
| 3 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 36 | 9.9% | |
| 4 | Cooking area, kitchen | 28 | 7.7% | |
| 5 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 26 | 7.1% | |
| 6 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 17 | 4.7% | |
| 7 | Other | 16 | 4.4% | |
| 8 | Vehicle area, other | 11 | 3.0% | |
| 9 | Wildland, woods | 11 | 3.0% | |
| 10 | Courtyard, patio, porch, terrace | 9 | 2.5% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 67 | 18.4% |
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 East Wenatchee mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 201 | 55.2% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 22 | 6.0% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 17 | 4.7% | |
| 4 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 16 | 4.4% | |
| 5 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 16 | 4.4% | |
| 6 | Heat source: other | 15 | 4.1% | |
| 7 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 14 | 3.8% | |
| 8 | Hot ember or ash | 11 | 3.0% | |
| 9 | Fireworks | 8 | 2.2% | |
| 10 | Match | 6 | 1.6% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 38 | 10.4% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by East Wenatchee departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 95% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $500,000 | Fire, other | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $481,000 | Fire, other | Major | Investigated |
| 3 | $150,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $75,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $30,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $20,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $15,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $11,500 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. East Wenatchee sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 955,415 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1994 | Natural | 140,000 | 28.8 mi | |
| 2015 | Natural | 88,483 | 29.6 mi | |
| 2013 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 80,053 | 11.1 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 74,800 | 45.9 mi | |
| 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 71,209 | 32.2 mi | |
| 2012 | Natural | 43,874 | 18.1 mi | |
| 2002 | Recreation and ceremony | 43,373 | 42.0 mi | |
| 2018 | Natural | 41,404 | 32.5 mi | |
| 2017 | Natural | 37,266 | 14.3 mi | |
| 2017 | Natural | 36,817 | 34.6 mi | |
| 2004 | Natural | 29,700 | 47.4 mi | |
| 1994 | Smoking | 29,435 | 23.3 mi |
Top 6 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 East Wenatchee. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in East Wenatchee.
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.