In 2025, fire departments serving Gold Bar responded to 108 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $250K 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 66% of all calls.
Jul peaks. Nov dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
511 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $2.0M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 87 | — | |
| 2022 | 127 | +46.0% | |
| 2023 | 93 | -26.8% | |
| 2024 | 96 | +3.2% | |
| 2025 | 108 | +12.5% |
For the 6 building fires Gold Bar departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 54 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 | 20 | 37.0% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 7 | 13.0% | |
| 3 | Other | 3 | 5.6% | |
| 4 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 3 | 5.6% | |
| 5 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 3 | 5.6% | |
| 6 | Cooking area, kitchen | 2 | 3.7% | |
| 7 | Substructure area or space, crawl space | 2 | 3.7% | |
| 8 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 2 | 3.7% | |
| 9 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 2 | 3.7% | |
| 10 | Outside area, other | 2 | 3.7% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 8 | 14.8% |
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 Gold Bar mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 30 | 55.6% | |
| 2 | Heat source: other | 4 | 7.4% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 2 | 3.7% | |
| 4 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 2 | 3.7% | |
| 5 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 2 | 3.7% | |
| 6 | Arcing | 2 | 3.7% | |
| 7 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 2 | 3.7% | |
| 8 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 2 | 3.7% | |
| 9 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 1 | 1.9% | |
| 10 | Hot ember or ash | 1 | 1.9% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 6 | 11.1% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Gold Bar departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $250,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $35,000 | Fire in motor home, camper, recreational vehicle | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $10,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $10,000 | Fire in portable building, fixed location | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $10,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $5,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $2,500 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $505 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Gold Bar sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 136,317 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | Natural | 36,817 | 45.6 mi | |
| 1994 | Smoking | 29,435 | 49.0 mi | |
| 2014 | Natural | 14,435 | 41.3 mi | |
| 1994 | Natural | 12,060 | 45.3 mi | |
| 2001 | Natural | 6,914 | 46.9 mi | |
| 2017 | Natural | 4,607 | 41.5 mi | |
| 2016 | Natural | 3,880 | 40.9 mi | |
| 2003 | Natural | 3,654 | 49.0 mi | |
| 1994 | Natural | 3,241 | 41.4 mi | |
| 2020 | Natural | 3,166 | 35.9 mi | |
| 2012 | Natural | 2,779 | 44.3 mi | |
| 2003 | Natural | 2,409 | 40.5 mi |
Top 3 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 Gold Bar. 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.