In 2025, fire departments serving Stanwood responded to 211 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $189K 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 61% of all calls.
Jul peaks. Feb dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
1,029 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2021. $3.9M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 241 | — | |
| 2022 | 169 | -29.9% | |
| 2023 | 220 | +30.2% | |
| 2024 | 188 | -14.5% | |
| 2025 | 211 | +12.2% |
For the 12 building fires Stanwood departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 194 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 | 42 | 21.6% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 32 | 16.5% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 21 | 10.8% | |
| 4 | Other | 17 | 8.8% | |
| 5 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 11 | 5.7% | |
| 6 | Cooking area, kitchen | 7 | 3.6% | |
| 7 | Vehicle area, other | 7 | 3.6% | |
| 8 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 5 | 2.6% | |
| 9 | Wildland, woods | 5 | 2.6% | |
| 10 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 4 | 2.1% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 43 | 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 Stanwood mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 108 | 55.7% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 16 | 8.2% | |
| 3 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 10 | 5.2% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 10 | 5.2% | |
| 5 | Hot ember or ash | 10 | 5.2% | |
| 6 | Heat source: other | 9 | 4.6% | |
| 7 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 3 | 1.5% | |
| 8 | Heat, spark from friction | 3 | 1.5% | |
| 9 | Fireworks | 3 | 1.5% | |
| 10 | Match | 3 | 1.5% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 19 | 9.8% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Stanwood departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 87% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $188,563 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $150,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $100,000 | Dumpster or other outside trash receptacle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $100,000 | Authorized controlled burning | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $58,609 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $45,000 | Fire in motor home, camper, recreational vehicle | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $30,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $30,000 | Dumpster or other outside trash receptacle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Stanwood sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 3,291 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1998 | Recreation and ceremony | 1,162 | 45.4 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 289 | 44.4 mi | |
| 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 216 | 42.3 mi | |
| 2015 | Natural | 200 | 33.6 mi | |
| 2004 | Natural | 173 | 48.4 mi | |
| 2003 | Natural | 170 | 38.9 mi | |
| 2004 | Debris and open burning | 100 | 37.3 mi | |
| 1994 | Debris and open burning | 94 | 34.5 mi | |
| 2020 | Debris and open burning | 89 | 8.3 mi | |
| 1993 | Equipment and vehicle use | 70 | 23.4 mi | |
| 2009 | Natural | 68 | 29.3 mi | |
| 2020 | Debris and open burning | 67 | 39.2 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 Stanwood. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Stanwood.
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.