In 2025, fire departments serving Haines responded to 15 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $42K 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 60% of all calls.
Dec peaks. Jan dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
68 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $441K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 15 | — | |
| 2022 | 23 | +53.3% | |
| 2023* | 5 | — | |
| 2024 | 10 | — | |
| 2025 | 15 | +50.0% |
* Well below Haines'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 1 building fires Haines departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 35 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 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 10 | 28.6% | |
| 2 | Other | 8 | 22.9% | |
| 3 | Undetermined | 4 | 11.4% | |
| 4 | Conduit, pipe, utility, or ventilation shaft | 2 | 5.7% | |
| 5 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 2 | 5.7% | |
| 6 | Outside area, other | 2 | 5.7% | |
| 7 | Substructure area or space, crawl space | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 8 | Ceiling & floor assembly, crawl space b/t stories | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 9 | Wall assembly | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 10 | Roof surface: exterior | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 3 | 8.6% |
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 Haines mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hot ember or ash | 13 | 37.1% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 5 | 14.3% | |
| 3 | Heat source: other | 4 | 11.4% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 3 | 8.6% | |
| 5 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 3 | 8.6% | |
| 6 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 7 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 8 | Arcing | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 9 | Candle | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 10 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 2 | 5.7% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Haines departments in 2025. These 2 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $41,900 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $23,000 | Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Haines sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 7 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 816 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | Debris and open burning | 305 | 10.7 mi | |
| 2005 | Recreation and ceremony | 244 | 9.1 mi | |
| 2005 | Recreation and ceremony | 86 | 28.4 mi | |
| 1998 | Other causes | 85 | 18.9 mi | |
| 2018 | Recreation and ceremony | 56 | 36.4 mi | |
| 1997 | Recreation and ceremony | 20 | 33.6 mi | |
| 1997 | Natural | 20 | 30.0 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 | 99827 | 68 |
Six Alaska cities with population within ±25% of Haines. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
2 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Haines.
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.