In 2025, fire departments serving Parkland responded to 194 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $500K 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 56% of all calls.
Aug peaks. Jan dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
400 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $1.7M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 162 | — | |
| 2022* | 42 | — | |
| 2023* | 0 | — | |
| 2024* | 2 | — | |
| 2025 | 194 | — |
* Well below Parkland's usual volume. That almost always means one or more departments didn't submit a full year to NFIRS, not that fires dropped, so no year-over-year change is shown for it.
For the 16 building fires Parkland departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 86 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 | 28 | 32.6% | |
| 2 | Cooking area, kitchen | 9 | 10.5% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 8 | 9.3% | |
| 4 | Vehicle area, other | 6 | 7.0% | |
| 5 | Other | 5 | 5.8% | |
| 6 | Outside area, other | 5 | 5.8% | |
| 7 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 3 | 3.5% | |
| 8 | Function area, other | 2 | 2.3% | |
| 9 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 2 | 2.3% | |
| 10 | Storage area, other | 2 | 2.3% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 16 | 18.6% |
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 Parkland mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 52 | 60.5% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 6 | 7.0% | |
| 3 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 5 | 5.8% | |
| 4 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 4 | 4.7% | |
| 5 | Arcing | 4 | 4.7% | |
| 6 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 3 | 3.5% | |
| 7 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 2 | 2.3% | |
| 8 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 2 | 2.3% | |
| 9 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 2 | 2.3% | |
| 10 | Heat source: other | 1 | 1.2% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 5 | 5.8% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Parkland departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 90% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $500,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $500,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 3 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $30,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $25,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $25,000 | Fire in motor home, camper, recreational vehicle | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $20,000 | Fire in mobile prop. used as a fixed struc., other | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Parkland sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 11,362 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 | 44.2 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,243 | 49.4 mi | |
| 2006 | Fireworks | 1,100 | 47.4 mi | |
| 1997 | Debris and open burning | 594 | 31.6 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 494 | 6.2 mi | |
| 2018 | Natural | 420 | 34.9 mi | |
| 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 384 | 34.6 mi | |
| 2015 | Natural | 359 | 27.2 mi | |
| 2003 | Natural | 310 | 36.4 mi | |
| 1999 | Natural | 294 | 46.6 mi | |
| 1995 | Debris and open burning | 290 | 26.9 mi | |
| 2006 | Arson/incendiarism | 280 | 26.1 mi |
Top 4 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 Parkland. 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.