In 2025, fire departments serving Laie responded to 30 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $40K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Arcing, shorted electrical equipment lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 77% of all calls.
Apr peaks. Nov dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
152 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $461K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 26 | — | |
| 2022 | 24 | -7.7% | |
| 2023 | 32 | +33.3% | |
| 2024 | 40 | +25.0% | |
| 2025 | 30 | -25.0% |
For the 2 building fires Laie departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 22 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 | Cooking area, kitchen | 5 | 22.7% | |
| 2 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 3 | 13.6% | |
| 3 | Exterior, exposed surface | 3 | 13.6% | |
| 4 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 2 | 9.1% | |
| 5 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 2 | 9.1% | |
| 6 | Undetermined | 2 | 9.1% | |
| 7 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 1 | 4.5% | |
| 8 | Storage room, area, tank, or bin | 1 | 4.5% | |
| 9 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 1 | 4.5% | |
| 10 | Conduit, pipe, utility, or ventilation shaft | 1 | 4.5% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 1 | 4.5% |
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 Laie mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 9 | 40.9% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 5 | 22.7% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 4 | 18.2% | |
| 4 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 2 | 9.1% | |
| 5 | Heat, spark from friction | 1 | 4.5% | |
| 6 | Radiated heat from another fire | 1 | 4.5% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Laie departments in 2025. These 2 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $40,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $5,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Laie sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 33,954 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 7,000 | 12.8 mi | |
| 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,820 | 19.5 mi | |
| 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,800 | 22.5 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,100 | 15.5 mi | |
| 2002 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,700 | 19.3 mi | |
| 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,700 | 18.3 mi | |
| 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,507 | 22.3 mi | |
| 1998 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,500 | 21.2 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,235 | 19.6 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,000 | 21.0 mi | |
| 1993 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,000 | 19.5 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,000 | 22.6 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 | 96762 | 152 |
Six Hawaii cities with population within ±25% of Laie. 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.