In 2025, fire departments serving Spanaway responded to 264 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $823K 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 51% of all calls.
Jul peaks. Jan dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
1,560 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $7.2M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 323 | — | |
| 2022 | 320 | -0.9% | |
| 2023 | 329 | +2.8% | |
| 2024 | 324 | -1.5% | |
| 2025 | 264 | -18.5% |
For the 16 building fires Spanaway departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 437 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 | 126 | 28.8% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 42 | 9.6% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 39 | 8.9% | |
| 4 | Other | 28 | 6.4% | |
| 5 | Vehicle area, other | 22 | 5.0% | |
| 6 | Cooking area, kitchen | 19 | 4.3% | |
| 7 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 14 | 3.2% | |
| 8 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 14 | 3.2% | |
| 9 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 12 | 2.7% | |
| 10 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 10 | 2.3% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 111 | 25.4% |
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 Spanaway mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 234 | 53.5% | |
| 2 | Heat source: other | 49 | 11.2% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 27 | 6.2% | |
| 4 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 23 | 5.3% | |
| 5 | Fireworks | 14 | 3.2% | |
| 6 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 12 | 2.7% | |
| 7 | Arcing | 12 | 2.7% | |
| 8 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 10 | 2.3% | |
| 9 | Hot ember or ash | 10 | 2.3% | |
| 10 | Heat from undetermined smoking material | 7 | 1.6% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 39 | 8.9% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Spanaway departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 96% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $823,103 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $37,400 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $35,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $30,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $25,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $11,500 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $10,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Spanaway sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 10,209 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 | 46.8 mi | |
| 2006 | Fireworks | 1,100 | 49.6 mi | |
| 1997 | Debris and open burning | 594 | 33.4 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 494 | 8.3 mi | |
| 2018 | Natural | 420 | 33.7 mi | |
| 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 384 | 33.4 mi | |
| 2015 | Natural | 359 | 24.1 mi | |
| 2003 | Natural | 310 | 34.8 mi | |
| 1999 | Natural | 294 | 49.3 mi | |
| 1995 | Debris and open burning | 290 | 27.4 mi | |
| 2006 | Arson/incendiarism | 280 | 24.5 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 280 | 32.9 mi |
Top 4 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 Spanaway. 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.