In 2025, fire departments serving Lake Stevens responded to 263 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $173K 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 53% of all calls.
Jul peaks. Mar dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
1,275 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $3.4M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 253 | — | |
| 2022 | 296 | +17.0% | |
| 2023 | 260 | -12.2% | |
| 2024 | 203 | -21.9% | |
| 2025 | 263 | +29.6% |
For the 15 building fires Lake Stevens departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 288 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 | 57 | 19.8% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 54 | 18.8% | |
| 3 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 22 | 7.6% | |
| 4 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 18 | 6.2% | |
| 5 | Cooking area, kitchen | 15 | 5.2% | |
| 6 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 15 | 5.2% | |
| 7 | Other | 13 | 4.5% | |
| 8 | Vehicle area, other | 13 | 4.5% | |
| 9 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 13 | 4.5% | |
| 10 | Wildland, woods | 12 | 4.2% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 56 | 19.4% |
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 Lake Stevens mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 153 | 53.1% | |
| 2 | Heat source: other | 17 | 5.9% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 17 | 5.9% | |
| 4 | Fireworks | 17 | 5.9% | |
| 5 | Arcing | 15 | 5.2% | |
| 6 | Explosive, fireworks, other | 11 | 3.8% | |
| 7 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 11 | 3.8% | |
| 8 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 9 | 3.1% | |
| 9 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 7 | 2.4% | |
| 10 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 6 | 2.1% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 25 | 8.7% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Lake Stevens departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 91% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $172,996 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $100,000 | Fire in portable building, fixed location | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $25,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $18,000 | Fire in motor home, camper, recreational vehicle | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $10,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $10,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $5,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Lake Stevens sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 7,258 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | Natural | 3,166 | 44.6 mi | |
| 1998 | Recreation and ceremony | 1,162 | 46.8 mi | |
| 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 360 | 33.6 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 289 | 25.3 mi | |
| 1992 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 252 | 45.4 mi | |
| 2009 | Natural | 225 | 36.5 mi | |
| 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 216 | 38.3 mi | |
| 2004 | Natural | 212 | 46.2 mi | |
| 2015 | Natural | 200 | 26.0 mi | |
| 2003 | Natural | 170 | 30.3 mi | |
| 2015 | Natural | 143 | 41.4 mi | |
| 2018 | Natural | 105 | 49.4 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 Lake Stevens. 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.