In 2025, fire departments serving Issaquah responded to 257 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $300K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 45% of all calls.
May peaks. Sep dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
1,156 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $5.2M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 146 | — | |
| 2022 | 179 | +22.6% | |
| 2023 | 297 | +65.9% | |
| 2024 | 277 | -6.7% | |
| 2025 | 257 | -7.2% |
For the 16 building fires Issaquah departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 275 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 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 50 | 18.2% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 34 | 12.4% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 32 | 11.6% | |
| 4 | Other | 31 | 11.3% | |
| 5 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 24 | 8.7% | |
| 6 | Cooking area, kitchen | 17 | 6.2% | |
| 7 | Vehicle area, other | 11 | 4.0% | |
| 8 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 9 | 3.3% | |
| 9 | Cargo/trunk area - all vehicles | 8 | 2.9% | |
| 10 | Function area, other | 6 | 2.2% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 53 | 19.3% |
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 Issaquah mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 117 | 42.5% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 38 | 13.8% | |
| 3 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 22 | 8.0% | |
| 4 | Cigarette | 17 | 6.2% | |
| 5 | Heat source: other | 14 | 5.1% | |
| 6 | Arcing | 14 | 5.1% | |
| 7 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 12 | 4.4% | |
| 8 | Hot ember or ash | 9 | 3.3% | |
| 9 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 6 | 2.2% | |
| 10 | Heat, spark from friction | 4 | 1.5% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 22 | 8.0% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Issaquah departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 82% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $300,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $264,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 3 | $75,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $70,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $60,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $30,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $26,200 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Issaquah sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 9,275 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | Natural | 1,097 | 44.8 mi | |
| 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,061 | 38.9 mi | |
| 2006 | Natural | 969 | 43.8 mi | |
| 2009 | Natural | 750 | 37.3 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 494 | 27.2 mi | |
| 2018 | Natural | 420 | 38.9 mi | |
| 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 360 | 23.0 mi | |
| 2007 | Equipment and vehicle use | 350 | 45.1 mi | |
| 2003 | Natural | 310 | 43.9 mi | |
| 1995 | Debris and open burning | 290 | 20.0 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 289 | 27.3 mi | |
| 2006 | Arson/incendiarism | 280 | 37.7 mi |
Top 6 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 Issaquah. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Issaquah.
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.