In 2025, fire departments serving Graham responded to 232 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $654K 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 64% of all calls.
Jul peaks. Mar dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
1,213 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $5.2M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 219 | — | |
| 2022 | 251 | +14.6% | |
| 2023 | 265 | +5.6% | |
| 2024 | 246 | -7.2% | |
| 2025 | 232 | -5.7% |
For the 11 building fires Graham departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 219 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 | 34 | 15.5% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 28 | 12.8% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 22 | 10.0% | |
| 4 | Vehicle area, other | 19 | 8.7% | |
| 5 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 12 | 5.5% | |
| 6 | Cooking area, kitchen | 10 | 4.6% | |
| 7 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 9 | 4.1% | |
| 8 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 8 | 3.7% | |
| 9 | Other | 6 | 2.7% | |
| 10 | Courtyard, patio, porch, terrace | 6 | 2.7% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 65 | 29.7% |
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 Graham mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Heat source: other | 67 | 30.6% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 47 | 21.5% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 21 | 9.6% | |
| 4 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 18 | 8.2% | |
| 5 | Arcing | 12 | 5.5% | |
| 6 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 8 | 3.7% | |
| 7 | Heat from undetermined smoking material | 8 | 3.7% | |
| 8 | Multiple heat sources including multiple ignitions | 6 | 2.7% | |
| 9 | Fireworks | 5 | 2.3% | |
| 10 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 5 | 2.3% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 22 | 10.0% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Graham departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 97% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $654,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $100,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $70,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $30,000 | Fire in mobile home used as fixed residence | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $15,000 | Arcing, shorted electrical equipment | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $10,000 | Fire in mobile home used as fixed residence | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $8,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Graham sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 59,573 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 | 43.2 mi | |
| 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,061 | 40.8 mi | |
| 1997 | Debris and open burning | 594 | 41.3 mi | |
| 2012 | Natural | 523 | 45.8 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 494 | 12.4 mi | |
| 2018 | Natural | 420 | 26.8 mi | |
| 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 384 | 37.1 mi | |
| 2015 | Natural | 359 | 18.6 mi | |
| 2003 | Natural | 321 | 45.7 mi | |
| 2003 | Natural | 310 | 27.2 mi | |
| 2012 | Natural | 302 | 44.6 mi | |
| 1995 | Debris and open burning | 290 | 24.5 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 Graham. 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.