In 2025, fire departments serving Maple Valley responded to 144 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $60K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 45% of all calls.
Jul peaks. Mar dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
906 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $2.4M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 199 | — | |
| 2022 | 147 | -26.1% | |
| 2023 | 233 | +58.5% | |
| 2024 | 183 | -21.5% | |
| 2025 | 144 | -21.3% |
For the 6 building fires Maple Valley departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 206 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 | 62 | 30.1% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 37 | 18.0% | |
| 3 | Other | 18 | 8.7% | |
| 4 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 12 | 5.8% | |
| 5 | Cooking area, kitchen | 9 | 4.4% | |
| 6 | Vehicle area, other | 6 | 2.9% | |
| 7 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 6 | 2.9% | |
| 8 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 6 | 2.9% | |
| 9 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 5 | 2.4% | |
| 10 | Cargo/trunk area - all vehicles | 5 | 2.4% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 40 | 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 Maple Valley mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 116 | 56.3% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 17 | 8.3% | |
| 3 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 14 | 6.8% | |
| 4 | Heat source: other | 11 | 5.3% | |
| 5 | Arcing | 7 | 3.4% | |
| 6 | Fireworks | 7 | 3.4% | |
| 7 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 6 | 2.9% | |
| 8 | Hot ember or ash | 5 | 2.4% | |
| 9 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 5 | 2.4% | |
| 10 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 4 | 1.9% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 14 | 6.8% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Maple Valley departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 93% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $60,000 | Fire in mobile home used as fixed residence | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $20,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $20,000 | Fires in structures other than in a building | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $15,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $10,000 | Fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $10,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $10,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $5,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Maple Valley sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 65,733 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 52,056 | 42.4 mi | |
| 2017 | Natural | 3,853 | 46.4 mi | |
| 2003 | Natural | 1,097 | 48.0 mi | |
| 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,061 | 31.5 mi | |
| 2006 | Natural | 969 | 42.9 mi | |
| 2009 | Natural | 750 | 37.2 mi | |
| 2020 | Natural | 588 | 47.4 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 494 | 18.3 mi | |
| 2018 | Natural | 420 | 27.8 mi | |
| 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 360 | 29.2 mi | |
| 2015 | Natural | 359 | 43.3 mi | |
| 2007 | Equipment and vehicle use | 350 | 39.3 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 Maple Valley. 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.