In 2025, fire departments serving Kenmore responded to 80 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $595K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Natural vegetation fire, other lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 57% of all calls.
Jul peaks. Jan dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
403 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $2.7M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 78 | — | |
| 2022 | 87 | +11.5% | |
| 2023 | 97 | +11.5% | |
| 2024 | 61 | -37.1% | |
| 2025 | 80 | +31.1% |
For the 9 building fires Kenmore departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 159 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 | 53 | 33.3% | |
| 2 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 18 | 11.3% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 17 | 10.7% | |
| 4 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 9 | 5.7% | |
| 5 | Other | 8 | 5.0% | |
| 6 | Cooking area, kitchen | 6 | 3.8% | |
| 7 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 6 | 3.8% | |
| 8 | Courtyard, patio, porch, terrace | 5 | 3.1% | |
| 9 | Wildland, woods | 5 | 3.1% | |
| 10 | Bathroom, checkroom, lavatory, locker room | 4 | 2.5% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 28 | 17.6% |
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 Kenmore mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 91 | 57.2% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 9 | 5.7% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 7 | 4.4% | |
| 4 | Hot ember or ash | 7 | 4.4% | |
| 5 | Cigarette | 7 | 4.4% | |
| 6 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 6 | 3.8% | |
| 7 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 6 | 3.8% | |
| 8 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 5 | 3.1% | |
| 9 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 4 | 2.5% | |
| 10 | Heat source: other | 3 | 1.9% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 14 | 8.8% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Kenmore departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $594,600 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $500,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 3 | $30,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $28,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $20,000 | Water vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $10,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $10,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $5,000 | Fire in mobile home used as fixed residence | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Kenmore sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 9,554 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | Equipment and vehicle use | 3,312 | 42.7 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,243 | 40.2 mi | |
| 2009 | Natural | 817 | 43.3 mi | |
| 1997 | Debris and open burning | 594 | 49.6 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 494 | 38.0 mi | |
| 2009 | Natural | 443 | 41.7 mi | |
| 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 360 | 31.6 mi | |
| 1999 | Natural | 294 | 41.3 mi | |
| 1995 | Debris and open burning | 290 | 36.9 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 289 | 29.4 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 275 | 49.6 mi | |
| 2015 | Natural | 200 | 42.7 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 | 98028 | 403 |
Six Washington cities with population within ±25% of Kenmore. 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.