In 2025, fire departments serving Kalama responded to 55 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $309K 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 62% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Nov dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
332 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2021. $2.0M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 81 | — | |
| 2022 | 65 | -19.8% | |
| 2023 | 63 | -3.1% | |
| 2024 | 68 | +7.9% | |
| 2025 | 55 | -19.1% |
For the 6 building fires Kalama departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 134 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 | 29 | 21.6% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 17 | 12.7% | |
| 3 | Undetermined | 17 | 12.7% | |
| 4 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 8 | 6.0% | |
| 5 | Cooking area, kitchen | 7 | 5.2% | |
| 6 | Vehicle area, other | 6 | 4.5% | |
| 7 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 6 | 4.5% | |
| 8 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 5 | 3.7% | |
| 9 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 4 | 3.0% | |
| 10 | Equipment or service area, other | 4 | 3.0% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 31 | 23.1% |
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 Kalama mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 63 | 47.0% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 13 | 9.7% | |
| 3 | Heat source: other | 9 | 6.7% | |
| 4 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 9 | 6.7% | |
| 5 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 8 | 6.0% | |
| 6 | Heat, spark from friction | 5 | 3.7% | |
| 7 | Hot ember or ash | 5 | 3.7% | |
| 8 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 4 | 3.0% | |
| 9 | Arcing | 4 | 3.0% | |
| 10 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 4 | 3.0% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 10 | 7.5% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Kalama departments in 2025. These 5 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $309,470 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $95,420 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $40,000 | Camper or recreational vehicle (RV) fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $4,466 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $3,000 | Fire in motor home, camper, recreational vehicle | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Kalama sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 59,958 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 24,995 | 41.8 mi | |
| 1992 | Smoking | 24,400 | 49.9 mi | |
| 2001 | Natural | 7,500 | 34.0 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 450 | 48.8 mi | |
| 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 260 | 45.3 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 211 | 39.4 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 175 | 39.3 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 166 | 25.9 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 145 | 40.2 mi | |
| 2000 | Equipment and vehicle use | 130 | 38.6 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 127 | 43.7 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 126 | 41.9 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 | 98625 | 332 |
Six Washington cities with population within ±25% of Kalama. 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.