In 2025, fire departments serving SeaTac responded to 231 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $175K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Special outside fire, other lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 60% of all calls.
Sep peaks. Mar dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
1,717 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $10.1M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 424 | — | |
| 2022 | 359 | -15.3% | |
| 2023 | 473 | +31.8% | |
| 2024 | 230 | -51.4% | |
| 2025 | 231 | +0.4% |
For the 32 building fires SeaTac departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 443 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 | 134 | 30.2% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 75 | 16.9% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 40 | 9.0% | |
| 4 | Other | 25 | 5.6% | |
| 5 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 21 | 4.7% | |
| 6 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 16 | 3.6% | |
| 7 | Cooking area, kitchen | 15 | 3.4% | |
| 8 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 15 | 3.4% | |
| 9 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 14 | 3.2% | |
| 10 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 8 | 1.8% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 80 | 18.1% |
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 SeaTac mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 296 | 66.8% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 30 | 6.8% | |
| 3 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 19 | 4.3% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 13 | 2.9% | |
| 5 | Hot ember or ash | 13 | 2.9% | |
| 6 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 11 | 2.5% | |
| 7 | Cigarette lighter | 9 | 2.0% | |
| 8 | Heat source: other | 7 | 1.6% | |
| 9 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 6 | 1.4% | |
| 10 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 6 | 1.4% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 33 | 7.4% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by SeaTac departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 79% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $175,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $140,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $90,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $80,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $40,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $20,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. SeaTac sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 11,993 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 | 39.9 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,243 | 41.5 mi | |
| 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,061 | 44.9 mi | |
| 2009 | Natural | 817 | 44.1 mi | |
| 1997 | Debris and open burning | 594 | 37.6 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 494 | 16.6 mi | |
| 2009 | Natural | 443 | 44.4 mi | |
| 2018 | Natural | 420 | 39.7 mi | |
| 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 360 | 36.5 mi | |
| 2015 | Natural | 359 | 47.1 mi | |
| 2003 | Natural | 310 | 43.7 mi | |
| 1999 | Natural | 294 | 40.5 mi |
Top 10 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 SeaTac. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in SeaTac.
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.