In 2025, fire departments serving Kirkland responded to 255 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $720K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Building fires lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 56% of all calls.
Sep peaks. May dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
1,494 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2021. $14.1M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 337 | — | |
| 2022 | 318 | -5.6% | |
| 2023 | 323 | +1.6% | |
| 2024 | 261 | -19.2% | |
| 2025 | 255 | -2.3% |
For the 45 building fires Kirkland departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 507 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 | Outside area, other | 94 | 18.5% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 85 | 16.8% | |
| 3 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 61 | 12.0% | |
| 4 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 50 | 9.9% | |
| 5 | Other | 47 | 9.3% | |
| 6 | Cooking area, kitchen | 29 | 5.7% | |
| 7 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 21 | 4.1% | |
| 8 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 9 | 1.8% | |
| 9 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 9 | 1.8% | |
| 10 | Courtyard, patio, porch, terrace | 9 | 1.8% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 93 | 18.3% |
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 Kirkland mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 279 | 55.0% | |
| 2 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 40 | 7.9% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 35 | 6.9% | |
| 4 | Cigarette | 33 | 6.5% | |
| 5 | Hot ember or ash | 28 | 5.5% | |
| 6 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 18 | 3.6% | |
| 7 | Arcing | 16 | 3.2% | |
| 8 | Heat source: other | 15 | 3.0% | |
| 9 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 8 | 1.6% | |
| 10 | Fireworks | 6 | 1.2% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 29 | 5.7% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Kirkland departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 91% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $720,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $500,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 3 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $30,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $30,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $25,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $20,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $20,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Kirkland sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 10,117 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 | 43.8 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,243 | 42.0 mi | |
| 2009 | Natural | 750 | 46.9 mi | |
| 1997 | Debris and open burning | 594 | 49.0 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 494 | 34.6 mi | |
| 2009 | Natural | 443 | 43.8 mi | |
| 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 360 | 29.1 mi | |
| 1999 | Natural | 294 | 42.7 mi | |
| 1995 | Debris and open burning | 290 | 32.7 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 289 | 28.3 mi | |
| 2006 | Arson/incendiarism | 280 | 49.7 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 280 | 49.3 mi |
Top 5 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 Kirkland. 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.