In 2025, fire departments serving Puyallup responded to 688 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $1.0M 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 42% of all calls.
Jul peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
4,097 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $34.9M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 684 | — | |
| 2022 | 868 | +26.9% | |
| 2023 | 1,001 | +15.3% | |
| 2024 | 856 | -14.5% | |
| 2025 | 688 | -19.6% |
For the 60 building fires Puyallup departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 1,059 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 | 284 | 26.8% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 137 | 12.9% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 112 | 10.6% | |
| 4 | Other | 81 | 7.6% | |
| 5 | Cooking area, kitchen | 51 | 4.8% | |
| 6 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 37 | 3.5% | |
| 7 | Vehicle area, other | 36 | 3.4% | |
| 8 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 35 | 3.3% | |
| 9 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 27 | 2.5% | |
| 10 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 24 | 2.3% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 235 | 22.2% |
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 Puyallup mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 604 | 57.0% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 75 | 7.1% | |
| 3 | Heat source: other | 73 | 6.9% | |
| 4 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 67 | 6.3% | |
| 5 | Arcing | 41 | 3.9% | |
| 6 | Hot ember or ash | 24 | 2.3% | |
| 7 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 22 | 2.1% | |
| 8 | Fireworks | 18 | 1.7% | |
| 9 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 16 | 1.5% | |
| 10 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 16 | 1.5% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 103 | 9.7% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Puyallup departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 72% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $1,000,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $800,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 3 | $600,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 4 | $500,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 5 | $250,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 6 | $200,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $200,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $200,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Puyallup sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 62,463 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 52,056 | 45.9 mi | |
| 2018 | Equipment and vehicle use | 3,312 | 48.0 mi | |
| 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,061 | 40.1 mi | |
| 1997 | Debris and open burning | 594 | 37.5 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 494 | 3.2 mi | |
| 2018 | Natural | 420 | 29.0 mi | |
| 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 384 | 41.7 mi | |
| 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 360 | 46.8 mi | |
| 2015 | Natural | 359 | 28.8 mi | |
| 2003 | Natural | 310 | 31.3 mi | |
| 2012 | Natural | 302 | 48.0 mi | |
| 1999 | Natural | 294 | 49.9 mi |
Top 8 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 Puyallup. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
2 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Puyallup.
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.