In 2025, fire departments serving Pomeroy responded to 45 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $50K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Cultivated grain or crop fire lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 58% of all calls.
Jul peaks. May dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
236 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $9.5M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 32 | — | |
| 2022 | 48 | +50.0% | |
| 2023 | 59 | +22.9% | |
| 2024 | 52 | -11.9% | |
| 2025 | 45 | -13.5% |
For the 2 building fires Pomeroy departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 75 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 | 21 | 28.0% | |
| 2 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 11 | 14.7% | |
| 3 | Undetermined | 10 | 13.3% | |
| 4 | Exterior, exposed surface | 5 | 6.7% | |
| 5 | Cargo/trunk area - all vehicles | 4 | 5.3% | |
| 6 | Other | 2 | 2.7% | |
| 7 | Roof surface: exterior | 2 | 2.7% | |
| 8 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 2 | 2.7% | |
| 9 | Outside area, other | 2 | 2.7% | |
| 10 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 2 | 2.7% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 14 | 18.7% |
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 Pomeroy mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 24 | 32.0% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 13 | 17.3% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 12 | 16.0% | |
| 4 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 5 | 6.7% | |
| 5 | Heat, spark from friction | 4 | 5.3% | |
| 6 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 4 | 5.3% | |
| 7 | Chemical reaction | 3 | 4.0% | |
| 8 | Backfire from internal combustion engine | 2 | 2.7% | |
| 9 | Radiated heat from another fire | 2 | 2.7% | |
| 10 | Heat source: other | 1 | 1.3% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 5 | 6.7% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Pomeroy departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 99% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $50,000 | Grass fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $30,000 | Cultivated grain or crop fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $15,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $10,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $10,000 | Outside equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $10,000 | Cultivated grain or crop fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $6,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $5,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Pomeroy sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
12 fire-related casualties recorded in NFIRS Module 11 across the 2021–2025 window. Age, gender, and severity are coarse-binned — no individual identification possible.
| Age | Count | |
|---|---|---|
| 0-9 | 0 | |
| 10-19 | 1 | |
| 20-29 | 4 | |
| 30-39 | 2 | |
| 40-49 | 3 | |
| 50-59 | 2 | |
| 60-69 | 0 | |
| 70-79 | 0 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 527,295 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | Natural | 109,259 | 31.3 mi | |
| 2015 | Natural | 80,212 | 29.1 mi | |
| 2012 | Natural | 73,582 | 46.4 mi | |
| 2005 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 52,000 | 17.0 mi | |
| 2007 | Natural | 51,000 | 47.4 mi | |
| 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 25,000 | 39.3 mi | |
| 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 17,420 | 25.0 mi | |
| 2006 | Natural | 12,946 | 50.0 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 11,500 | 10.1 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 11,453 | 13.7 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 11,375 | 43.4 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 9,859 | 37.5 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 Pomeroy. 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.