In 2025, fire departments serving Fife responded to 111 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $220K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Outside rubbish, trash or waste fire lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 61% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Nov dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
903 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $6.7M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 208 | — | |
| 2022 | 248 | +19.2% | |
| 2023 | 187 | -24.6% | |
| 2024 | 149 | -20.3% | |
| 2025 | 111 | -25.5% |
For the 12 building fires Fife departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 414 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 | 224 | 54.1% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 50 | 12.1% | |
| 3 | Undetermined | 21 | 5.1% | |
| 4 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 18 | 4.3% | |
| 5 | Vehicle area, other | 16 | 3.9% | |
| 6 | Cooking area, kitchen | 9 | 2.2% | |
| 7 | Exterior, exposed surface | 9 | 2.2% | |
| 8 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 6 | 1.4% | |
| 9 | Cargo/trunk area - all vehicles | 6 | 1.4% | |
| 10 | Other | 5 | 1.2% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 50 | 12.1% |
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 Fife mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 213 | 51.4% | |
| 2 | Cigarette lighter | 36 | 8.7% | |
| 3 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 22 | 5.3% | |
| 4 | Incendiary device | 18 | 4.3% | |
| 5 | Heat source: other | 17 | 4.1% | |
| 6 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 16 | 3.9% | |
| 7 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 16 | 3.9% | |
| 8 | Cigarette | 15 | 3.6% | |
| 9 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 11 | 2.7% | |
| 10 | Arcing | 11 | 2.7% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 39 | 9.4% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Fife departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 97% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $220,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $30,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $5,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Fife sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 13,162 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 | 43.5 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,243 | 47.6 mi | |
| 2006 | Fireworks | 1,100 | 48.0 mi | |
| 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,061 | 43.3 mi | |
| 2009 | Natural | 817 | 49.5 mi | |
| 1997 | Debris and open burning | 594 | 34.0 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 494 | 1.9 mi | |
| 2018 | Natural | 420 | 33.1 mi | |
| 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 384 | 41.7 mi | |
| 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 360 | 46.4 mi | |
| 2015 | Natural | 359 | 32.7 mi | |
| 2003 | Natural | 310 | 35.7 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 Fife. 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.