In 2025, fire departments serving Fall City responded to 71 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $2.0M 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 54% of all calls.
Sep peaks. Mar dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
227 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $3.0M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 1 | — | |
| 2022 | 33 | — | |
| 2023 | 66 | +100.0% | |
| 2024 | 56 | -15.2% | |
| 2025 | 71 | +26.8% |
* Well below Fall City'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 8 building fires Fall City departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 35 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 | 16 | 45.7% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 4 | 11.4% | |
| 3 | Vehicle area, other | 3 | 8.6% | |
| 4 | Other | 2 | 5.7% | |
| 5 | Function area, other | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 6 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 7 | Storage area, other | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 8 | Storage room, area, tank, or bin | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 9 | Equipment or service area, other | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 10 | Structural area, other | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 4 | 11.4% |
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 Fall City mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 20 | 57.1% | |
| 2 | Heat source: other | 3 | 8.6% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 3 | 8.6% | |
| 4 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 2 | 5.7% | |
| 5 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 6 | Arcing | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 7 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 8 | Cigarette | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 9 | Chemical, natural heat source, other | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 10 | Other static discharge | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 1 | 2.9% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Fall City departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $2,000,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $300,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 3 | $45,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $20,000 | Fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $5,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $2,500 | Outside equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $500 | Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $500 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Fall City sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 98,716 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 52,056 | 49.8 mi | |
| 2017 | Natural | 36,817 | 43.9 mi | |
| 2003 | Natural | 1,097 | 38.3 mi | |
| 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,061 | 36.0 mi | |
| 2006 | Natural | 969 | 38.1 mi | |
| 2009 | Natural | 750 | 31.4 mi | |
| 2008 | Natural | 602 | 49.7 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 494 | 32.4 mi | |
| 2018 | Natural | 420 | 38.7 mi | |
| 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 360 | 16.5 mi | |
| 2007 | Equipment and vehicle use | 350 | 41.3 mi | |
| 2003 | Natural | 310 | 44.0 mi |
Top 1 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
| # | ZIP | 5-yr incidents | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 98024 | 227 |
Six Washington cities with population within ±25% of Fall City. 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.