In 2025, fire departments serving Mount Vernon responded to 301 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $291K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Power line down lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 63% of all calls.
Dec peaks. Feb dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
2,170 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $4.3M cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 515 | — | |
| 2022 | 438 | -15.0% | |
| 2023 | 521 | +18.9% | |
| 2024 | 395 | -24.2% | |
| 2025 | 301 | -23.8% |
For the 54 building fires Mount Vernon departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 396 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 | 84 | 21.2% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 60 | 15.2% | |
| 3 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 37 | 9.3% | |
| 4 | Cooking area, kitchen | 21 | 5.3% | |
| 5 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 21 | 5.3% | |
| 6 | Outside area, other | 20 | 5.1% | |
| 7 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 14 | 3.5% | |
| 8 | Wildland, woods | 14 | 3.5% | |
| 9 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 13 | 3.3% | |
| 10 | Wall surface: exterior | 12 | 3.0% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 100 | 25.3% |
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 Mount Vernon mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 245 | 61.9% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 26 | 6.6% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 22 | 5.6% | |
| 4 | Hot ember or ash | 18 | 4.5% | |
| 5 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 12 | 3.0% | |
| 6 | Heat source: other | 9 | 2.3% | |
| 7 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 9 | 2.3% | |
| 8 | Cigarette | 7 | 1.8% | |
| 9 | Cigarette lighter | 6 | 1.5% | |
| 10 | Fireworks | 5 | 1.3% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 37 | 9.3% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Mount Vernon departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 90% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $291,248 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $291,248 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 3 | $46,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $30,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $20,175 | Fire in motor home, camper, recreational vehicle | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $20,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $20,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $20,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Mount Vernon sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 3,257 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1998 | Recreation and ceremony | 1,162 | 40.3 mi | |
| 1995 | Equipment and vehicle use | 255 | 45.8 mi | |
| 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 216 | 40.7 mi | |
| 2015 | Natural | 200 | 35.4 mi | |
| 2004 | Natural | 173 | 38.7 mi | |
| 2003 | Natural | 170 | 40.5 mi | |
| 2004 | Debris and open burning | 100 | 25.1 mi | |
| 1994 | Debris and open burning | 94 | 28.0 mi | |
| 2020 | Debris and open burning | 89 | 14.3 mi | |
| 1993 | Equipment and vehicle use | 70 | 22.7 mi | |
| 2009 | Natural | 68 | 31.3 mi | |
| 2020 | Debris and open burning | 67 | 27.3 mi |
Top 2 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 Mount Vernon. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
2 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Mount Vernon.
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.