In 2025, fire departments serving Fircrest responded to 24 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $1.0M building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Electrical wiring/equipment problem, other lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 75% of all calls.
May peaks. Nov dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
108 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $1.1M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 17 | — | |
| 2022 | 19 | +11.8% | |
| 2023 | 23 | +21.1% | |
| 2024 | 25 | +8.7% | |
| 2025 | 24 | -4.0% |
For the 4 building fires Fircrest departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 25 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 | 8 | 32.0% | |
| 2 | Cooking area, kitchen | 4 | 16.0% | |
| 3 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 2 | 8.0% | |
| 4 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 2 | 8.0% | |
| 5 | Other | 1 | 4.0% | |
| 6 | Function area, other | 1 | 4.0% | |
| 7 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 1 | 4.0% | |
| 8 | Bathroom, checkroom, lavatory, locker room | 1 | 4.0% | |
| 9 | Structural area, other | 1 | 4.0% | |
| 10 | Substructure area or space, crawl space | 1 | 4.0% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 3 | 12.0% |
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 Fircrest mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 4 | 16.0% | |
| 2 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 4 | 16.0% | |
| 3 | Undetermined | 4 | 16.0% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 2 | 8.0% | |
| 5 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 2 | 8.0% | |
| 6 | Explosive, fireworks, other | 2 | 8.0% | |
| 7 | Heat source: other | 1 | 4.0% | |
| 8 | Arcing | 1 | 4.0% | |
| 9 | Hot ember or ash | 1 | 4.0% | |
| 10 | Cigarette | 1 | 4.0% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 3 | 12.0% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Fircrest departments in 2025. These 3 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $1,000,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $20,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $20,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Fircrest sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 12,705 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 | 37.4 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,243 | 42.3 mi | |
| 2006 | Fireworks | 1,100 | 41.1 mi | |
| 2009 | Natural | 817 | 43.9 mi | |
| 1997 | Debris and open burning | 594 | 26.4 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 494 | 8.1 mi | |
| 2009 | Natural | 443 | 45.8 mi | |
| 2018 | Natural | 420 | 40.2 mi | |
| 2010 | Natural | 385 | 45.9 mi | |
| 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 384 | 36.2 mi | |
| 2015 | Natural | 359 | 34.2 mi | |
| 2003 | Natural | 310 | 42.3 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 | 98466 | 108 |
Six Washington cities with population within ±25% of Fircrest. 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.