In 2025, fire departments serving Othello responded to 179 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $10K 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 59% of all calls.
Jun peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
780 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $193K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 125 | — | |
| 2022 | 176 | +40.8% | |
| 2023 | 139 | -21.0% | |
| 2024 | 161 | +15.8% | |
| 2025 | 179 | +11.2% |
For the 10 building fires Othello departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 445 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 | Outside area, other | 224 | 50.3% | |
| 2 | Other | 37 | 8.3% | |
| 3 | Vehicle area, other | 33 | 7.4% | |
| 4 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 33 | 7.4% | |
| 5 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 23 | 5.2% | |
| 6 | Undetermined | 15 | 3.4% | |
| 7 | Structural area, other | 13 | 2.9% | |
| 8 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 8 | 1.8% | |
| 9 | Cooking area, kitchen | 7 | 1.6% | |
| 10 | Storage area, other | 7 | 1.6% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 45 | 10.1% |
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 Othello mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 154 | 34.6% | |
| 2 | Heat source: other | 84 | 18.9% | |
| 3 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 27 | 6.1% | |
| 4 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 23 | 5.2% | |
| 5 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 19 | 4.3% | |
| 6 | Explosive, fireworks, other | 19 | 4.3% | |
| 7 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 16 | 3.6% | |
| 8 | Heat, spark from friction | 14 | 3.1% | |
| 9 | Arcing | 12 | 2.7% | |
| 10 | Multiple heat sources including multiple ignitions | 11 | 2.5% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 66 | 14.8% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Othello departments in 2025. These 2 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $10,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $2,000 | Special outside fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Othello sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 913,826 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Equipment and vehicle use | 171,915 | 46.8 mi | |
| 2000 | Equipment and vehicle use | 163,884 | 33.6 mi | |
| 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 72,641 | 39.3 mi | |
| 1996 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 57,520 | 38.8 mi | |
| 2009 | Natural | 48,902 | 44.5 mi | |
| 2019 | Recreation and ceremony | 41,748 | 33.1 mi | |
| 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 30,648 | 39.2 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 25,000 | 39.2 mi | |
| 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 25,000 | 45.2 mi | |
| 2020 | Natural | 24,892 | 46.1 mi | |
| 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 24,650 | 39.7 mi | |
| 2019 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 22,672 | 34.8 mi |
Top 3 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 Othello. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
2 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Othello.
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.