In 2025, fire departments serving Leavenworth responded to 100 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $250K 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 69% of all calls.
May peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
549 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2021. $814K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 158 | — | |
| 2022 | 85 | -46.2% | |
| 2023 | 88 | +3.5% | |
| 2024 | 118 | +34.1% | |
| 2025 | 100 | -15.3% |
For the 3 building fires Leavenworth departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 162 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 | Wildland, woods | 32 | 19.8% | |
| 2 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 19 | 11.7% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 18 | 11.1% | |
| 4 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 16 | 9.9% | |
| 5 | Undetermined | 12 | 7.4% | |
| 6 | Cooking area, kitchen | 9 | 5.6% | |
| 7 | Other | 8 | 4.9% | |
| 8 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 4 | 2.5% | |
| 9 | Duct: hvac, cable, exhaust, heating, or AC | 4 | 2.5% | |
| 10 | Storage: supplies or tools; dead storage | 3 | 1.9% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 37 | 22.8% |
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 Leavenworth mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 57 | 35.2% | |
| 2 | Flying brand, ember, spark | 19 | 11.7% | |
| 3 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 12 | 7.4% | |
| 4 | Heat source: other | 11 | 6.8% | |
| 5 | Hot ember or ash | 11 | 6.8% | |
| 6 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 6 | 3.7% | |
| 7 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 6 | 3.7% | |
| 8 | Arcing | 5 | 3.1% | |
| 9 | Lightning | 5 | 3.1% | |
| 10 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 4 | 2.5% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 26 | 16.0% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Leavenworth departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $250,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $25,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $10,000 | Fires in structures other than in a building | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $6,000 | Fire in mobile home used as fixed residence | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $5,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $3,000 | Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $1,000 | Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $250 | Forest, woods or wildland fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Leavenworth sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 968,127 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1994 | Natural | 140,000 | 22.5 mi | |
| 2015 | Natural | 88,483 | 32.7 mi | |
| 2013 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 80,053 | 32.5 mi | |
| 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 71,209 | 47.9 mi | |
| 2015 | Natural | 65,621 | 43.6 mi | |
| 2001 | Natural | 55,913 | 42.5 mi | |
| 2012 | Natural | 43,874 | 24.9 mi | |
| 2002 | Recreation and ceremony | 43,373 | 33.6 mi | |
| 2018 | Natural | 41,404 | 18.5 mi | |
| 2017 | Natural | 37,266 | 35.5 mi | |
| 2017 | Natural | 36,817 | 22.4 mi | |
| 2004 | Natural | 29,700 | 34.5 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 | 98826 | 549 |
Six Washington cities with population within ±25% of Leavenworth. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Leavenworth.
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.