In 2025, fire departments serving Lacey responded to 277 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $400K 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 47% of all calls.
Jun peaks. Feb dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
1,420 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $6.2M cumulative property loss. 2 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 280 | — | |
| 2022 | 282 | +0.7% | |
| 2023 | 339 | +20.2% | |
| 2024 | 242 | -28.6% | |
| 2025 | 277 | +14.5% |
For the 35 building fires Lacey departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 397 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 | 67 | 16.9% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 57 | 14.4% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 45 | 11.3% | |
| 4 | Cooking area, kitchen | 27 | 6.8% | |
| 5 | Other | 23 | 5.8% | |
| 6 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 20 | 5.0% | |
| 7 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 15 | 3.8% | |
| 8 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 12 | 3.0% | |
| 9 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 10 | 2.5% | |
| 10 | Wildland, woods | 9 | 2.3% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 112 | 28.2% |
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 Lacey mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 211 | 53.1% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 30 | 7.6% | |
| 3 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 19 | 4.8% | |
| 4 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 18 | 4.5% | |
| 5 | Cigarette | 17 | 4.3% | |
| 6 | Arcing | 16 | 4.0% | |
| 7 | Heat source: other | 15 | 3.8% | |
| 8 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 12 | 3.0% | |
| 9 | Hot ember or ash | 10 | 2.5% | |
| 10 | Cigarette lighter | 9 | 2.3% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 40 | 10.1% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Lacey departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 89% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $400,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $150,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $80,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $75,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $60,000 | 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. Lacey sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 11,692 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 | 40.0 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,243 | 47.1 mi | |
| 2006 | Fireworks | 1,100 | 39.4 mi | |
| 2009 | Natural | 817 | 47.5 mi | |
| 1997 | Debris and open burning | 594 | 21.7 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 494 | 23.7 mi | |
| 2010 | Natural | 385 | 46.5 mi | |
| 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 384 | 18.2 mi | |
| 2015 | Natural | 359 | 31.1 mi | |
| 1999 | Natural | 294 | 43.4 mi | |
| 1995 | Debris and open burning | 290 | 44.8 mi | |
| 2006 | Arson/incendiarism | 280 | 41.2 mi |
Top 10 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 Lacey. 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.