In 2025, fire departments serving Edmonds responded to 182 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $300K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 51% of all calls.
Aug peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
1,118 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $6.7M cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 254 | — | |
| 2022 | 298 | +17.3% | |
| 2023 | 192 | -35.6% | |
| 2024 | 192 | +0.0% | |
| 2025 | 182 | -5.2% |
For the 15 building fires Edmonds departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 230 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 | 42 | 18.3% | |
| 2 | Cooking area, kitchen | 26 | 11.3% | |
| 3 | Other | 23 | 10.0% | |
| 4 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 23 | 10.0% | |
| 5 | Outside area, other | 18 | 7.8% | |
| 6 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 14 | 6.1% | |
| 7 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 12 | 5.2% | |
| 8 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 9 | 3.9% | |
| 9 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 6 | 2.6% | |
| 10 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 5 | 2.2% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 52 | 22.6% |
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 Edmonds mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 117 | 50.9% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 19 | 8.3% | |
| 3 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 16 | 7.0% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 15 | 6.5% | |
| 5 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 12 | 5.2% | |
| 6 | Hot ember or ash | 11 | 4.8% | |
| 7 | Heat source: other | 8 | 3.5% | |
| 8 | Fireworks | 5 | 2.2% | |
| 9 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 4 | 1.7% | |
| 10 | Cigarette lighter | 3 | 1.3% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 20 | 8.7% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Edmonds departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 99% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $300,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $200,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $30,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $25,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $25,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $15,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $15,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $3,000 | Fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Edmonds sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 10,297 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 | 39.6 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,243 | 36.1 mi | |
| 2006 | Fireworks | 1,100 | 48.8 mi | |
| 2009 | Natural | 817 | 39.2 mi | |
| 1997 | Debris and open burning | 594 | 48.9 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 494 | 41.8 mi | |
| 2009 | Natural | 443 | 37.1 mi | |
| 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 360 | 37.3 mi | |
| 1999 | Natural | 294 | 37.6 mi | |
| 1995 | Debris and open burning | 290 | 42.9 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 289 | 33.9 mi | |
| 2015 | Natural | 200 | 43.4 mi |
Top 8 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 Edmonds. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Edmonds.
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.