In 2025, fire departments serving Granite Falls responded to 149 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $100K 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 77% of all calls.
Jul peaks. Jun dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
602 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $1.5M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 143 | — | |
| 2022 | 150 | +4.9% | |
| 2023 | 141 | -6.0% | |
| 2024* | 19 | — | |
| 2025 | 149 | — |
* Well below Granite Falls'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 Granite Falls departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 73 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 | 22 | 30.1% | |
| 2 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 8 | 11.0% | |
| 3 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 6 | 8.2% | |
| 4 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 4 | 5.5% | |
| 5 | Outside area, other | 4 | 5.5% | |
| 6 | Cooking area, kitchen | 3 | 4.1% | |
| 7 | Other | 2 | 2.7% | |
| 8 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 2 | 2.7% | |
| 9 | Storage area, other | 2 | 2.7% | |
| 10 | Vehicle area, other | 2 | 2.7% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 18 | 24.7% |
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 Granite Falls mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 48 | 65.8% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 4 | 5.5% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 3 | 4.1% | |
| 4 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 3 | 4.1% | |
| 5 | Fireworks | 3 | 4.1% | |
| 6 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 2 | 2.7% | |
| 7 | Cigarette | 2 | 2.7% | |
| 8 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 2 | 2.7% | |
| 9 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 2 | 2.7% | |
| 10 | Heat source: other | 1 | 1.4% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 3 | 4.1% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Granite Falls departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 99% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $40,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $40,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $40,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $20,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $10,000 | Fire in motor home, camper, recreational vehicle | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $2,500 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $2,500 | Cooking fire, confined to container | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Granite Falls sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 12,482 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | Natural | 3,654 | 46.0 mi | |
| 2020 | Natural | 3,166 | 37.1 mi | |
| 1998 | Recreation and ceremony | 1,162 | 38.7 mi | |
| 2008 | Natural | 602 | 40.6 mi | |
| 2003 | Natural | 395 | 43.5 mi | |
| 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 360 | 34.7 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 289 | 24.6 mi | |
| 1995 | Equipment and vehicle use | 255 | 49.6 mi | |
| 1992 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 252 | 43.4 mi | |
| 2009 | Natural | 225 | 29.7 mi | |
| 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 216 | 30.2 mi | |
| 2004 | Natural | 212 | 38.5 mi |
Top 4 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 Granite Falls. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
2 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Granite Falls.
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.