In 2025, fire departments serving Sumner responded to 129 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $150K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Power line down lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 60% of all calls.
Jul peaks. Apr dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
647 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2021. $5.3M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 137 | — | |
| 2022 | 131 | -4.4% | |
| 2023 | 132 | +0.8% | |
| 2024 | 118 | -10.6% | |
| 2025 | 129 | +9.3% |
For the 7 building fires Sumner departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 153 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 | 33 | 21.6% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 21 | 13.7% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 11 | 7.2% | |
| 4 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 9 | 5.9% | |
| 5 | Other | 8 | 5.2% | |
| 6 | Cargo/trunk area - all vehicles | 7 | 4.6% | |
| 7 | Bathroom, checkroom, lavatory, locker room | 5 | 3.3% | |
| 8 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 5 | 3.3% | |
| 9 | Cooking area, kitchen | 4 | 2.6% | |
| 10 | Office | 4 | 2.6% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 46 | 30.1% |
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 Sumner mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 86 | 56.2% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 16 | 10.5% | |
| 3 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 8 | 5.2% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 7 | 4.6% | |
| 5 | Heat source: other | 5 | 3.3% | |
| 6 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 5 | 3.3% | |
| 7 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 5 | 3.3% | |
| 8 | Hot ember or ash | 3 | 2.0% | |
| 9 | Heat, spark from friction | 2 | 1.3% | |
| 10 | Explosive, fireworks, other | 2 | 1.3% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 14 | 9.2% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Sumner departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 92% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $150,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $40,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $30,000 | Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $10,000 | Fire in motor home, camper, recreational vehicle | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $10,000 | Outside storage fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $10,000 | Dumpster or other outside trash receptacle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Sumner sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 66,012 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 | 44.5 mi | |
| 2017 | Natural | 3,853 | 48.5 mi | |
| 2018 | Equipment and vehicle use | 3,312 | 48.7 mi | |
| 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,061 | 37.7 mi | |
| 1997 | Debris and open burning | 594 | 39.6 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 494 | 5.4 mi | |
| 2018 | Natural | 420 | 27.8 mi | |
| 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 384 | 45.4 mi | |
| 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 360 | 42.9 mi | |
| 2015 | Natural | 359 | 31.6 mi | |
| 2003 | Natural | 310 | 30.6 mi | |
| 2012 | Natural | 302 | 46.8 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 Sumner. 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.