In 2025, fire departments serving Port Angeles responded to 488 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $550K 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 66% of all calls.
Jul peaks. Nov dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
2,067 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $86.1M cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 423 | — | |
| 2022 | 354 | -16.3% | |
| 2023 | 416 | +17.5% | |
| 2024 | 386 | -7.2% | |
| 2025 | 488 | +26.4% |
For the 49 building fires Port Angeles departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 507 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 | 101 | 19.9% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 65 | 12.8% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 46 | 9.1% | |
| 4 | Cooking area, kitchen | 37 | 7.3% | |
| 5 | Other | 30 | 5.9% | |
| 6 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 29 | 5.7% | |
| 7 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 13 | 2.6% | |
| 8 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 12 | 2.4% | |
| 9 | Function area, other | 12 | 2.4% | |
| 10 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 12 | 2.4% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 150 | 29.6% |
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 Port Angeles mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 262 | 51.7% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 37 | 7.3% | |
| 3 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 30 | 5.9% | |
| 4 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 29 | 5.7% | |
| 5 | Heat source: other | 25 | 4.9% | |
| 6 | Arcing | 21 | 4.1% | |
| 7 | Hot ember or ash | 17 | 3.4% | |
| 8 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 11 | 2.2% | |
| 9 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 9 | 1.8% | |
| 10 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 7 | 1.4% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 59 | 11.6% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Port Angeles departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 82% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $550,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $300,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 3 | $250,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 4 | $85,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $75,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $65,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $60,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $60,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Port Angeles sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
20 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 | 0 | |
| 20-29 | 5 | |
| 30-39 | 5 | |
| 40-49 | 3 | |
| 50-59 | 0 | |
| 60-69 | 0 | |
| 70-79 | 1 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 16,540 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 | 40.0 mi | |
| 2015 | Natural | 2,815 | 32.5 mi | |
| 2016 | Natural | 2,475 | 20.1 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,243 | 33.2 mi | |
| 2006 | Fireworks | 1,100 | 42.8 mi | |
| 2016 | Natural | 825 | 24.5 mi | |
| 2003 | Natural | 820 | 8.0 mi | |
| 2009 | Natural | 817 | 32.5 mi | |
| 2009 | Natural | 443 | 29.7 mi | |
| 2002 | Debris and open burning | 400 | 3.7 mi | |
| 2010 | Natural | 385 | 34.7 mi | |
| 2002 | Debris and open burning | 342 | 42.8 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 Port Angeles. 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.