In 2025, fire departments serving Sammamish responded to 139 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $765K 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 48% of all calls.
Jul peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
702 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2021. $12.5M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 169 | — | |
| 2022 | 114 | -32.5% | |
| 2023 | 141 | +23.7% | |
| 2024 | 139 | -1.4% | |
| 2025 | 139 | +0.0% |
For the 10 building fires Sammamish departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 155 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 | 26 | 16.8% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 25 | 16.1% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 14 | 9.0% | |
| 4 | Other | 13 | 8.4% | |
| 5 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 9 | 5.8% | |
| 6 | Cooking area, kitchen | 8 | 5.2% | |
| 7 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 7 | 4.5% | |
| 8 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 6 | 3.9% | |
| 9 | Courtyard, patio, porch, terrace | 6 | 3.9% | |
| 10 | Wildland, woods | 5 | 3.2% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 36 | 23.2% |
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 Sammamish mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 74 | 47.7% | |
| 2 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 18 | 11.6% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 13 | 8.4% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 11 | 7.1% | |
| 5 | Cigarette | 8 | 5.2% | |
| 6 | Hot ember or ash | 7 | 4.5% | |
| 7 | Candle | 4 | 2.6% | |
| 8 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 3 | 1.9% | |
| 9 | Heat source: other | 2 | 1.3% | |
| 10 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 2 | 1.3% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 13 | 8.4% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Sammamish departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 98% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $765,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $40,000 | Fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $25,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $20,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $10,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $10,000 | Natural vegetation fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $7,500 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Sammamish sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 9,451 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | Natural | 1,097 | 44.1 mi | |
| 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,061 | 41.5 mi | |
| 2006 | Natural | 969 | 44.4 mi | |
| 2009 | Natural | 750 | 37.7 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 494 | 30.8 mi | |
| 2018 | Natural | 420 | 42.5 mi | |
| 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 360 | 21.7 mi | |
| 2007 | Equipment and vehicle use | 350 | 47.2 mi | |
| 2003 | Natural | 310 | 47.6 mi | |
| 1995 | Debris and open burning | 290 | 23.7 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 289 | 24.5 mi | |
| 2006 | Arson/incendiarism | 280 | 41.6 mi |
Top 5 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 Sammamish. 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.