In 2025, fire departments serving Mountlake Terrace responded to 81 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $75K 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 41% of all calls.
Oct peaks. Sep dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
504 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2021. $2.9M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 124 | — | |
| 2022 | 103 | -16.9% | |
| 2023 | 97 | -5.8% | |
| 2024 | 99 | +2.1% | |
| 2025 | 81 | -18.2% |
For the 5 building fires Mountlake Terrace departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 141 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 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 30 | 21.3% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 25 | 17.7% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 19 | 13.5% | |
| 4 | Cooking area, kitchen | 13 | 9.2% | |
| 5 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 8 | 5.7% | |
| 6 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 8 | 5.7% | |
| 7 | Other | 7 | 5.0% | |
| 8 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 3 | 2.1% | |
| 9 | Cargo/trunk area - all vehicles | 3 | 2.1% | |
| 10 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 2 | 1.4% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 23 | 16.3% |
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 Mountlake Terrace mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 70 | 49.6% | |
| 2 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 19 | 13.5% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 16 | 11.3% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 7 | 5.0% | |
| 5 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 6 | 4.3% | |
| 6 | Hot ember or ash | 5 | 3.5% | |
| 7 | Heat source: other | 3 | 2.1% | |
| 8 | Fireworks | 3 | 2.1% | |
| 9 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 3 | 2.1% | |
| 10 | Cigarette | 2 | 1.4% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 7 | 5.0% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Mountlake Terrace departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 95% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $75,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $50,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $30,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $30,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $25,000 | Outside rubbish, trash or waste fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $10,000 | Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $8,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $5,000 | Cooking fire, confined to container | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Mountlake Terrace sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 9,329 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | Equipment and vehicle use | 3,312 | 41.0 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,243 | 37.9 mi | |
| 2009 | Natural | 817 | 41.0 mi | |
| 1997 | Debris and open burning | 594 | 49.4 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 494 | 40.5 mi | |
| 2009 | Natural | 443 | 39.1 mi | |
| 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 360 | 34.9 mi | |
| 1999 | Natural | 294 | 39.3 mi | |
| 1995 | Debris and open burning | 290 | 40.7 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 289 | 31.8 mi | |
| 2015 | Natural | 200 | 42.7 mi | |
| 2003 | Natural | 170 | 46.3 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 Mountlake Terrace. 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.