In 2025, fire departments serving Tonasket responded to 39 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $150K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 72% of all calls.
Jul peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
214 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2021. $3.3M cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 53 | — | |
| 2022 | 34 | -35.8% | |
| 2023 | 48 | +41.2% | |
| 2024 | 40 | -16.7% | |
| 2025 | 39 | -2.5% |
For the 6 building fires Tonasket departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 117 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 | 41 | 35.0% | |
| 2 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 20 | 17.1% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 9 | 7.7% | |
| 4 | Outside area, other | 9 | 7.7% | |
| 5 | Wildland, woods | 8 | 6.8% | |
| 6 | Attic: vacant, crawl space above top story, cupola | 3 | 2.6% | |
| 7 | Vehicle area, other | 3 | 2.6% | |
| 8 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 3 | 2.6% | |
| 9 | Cooking area, kitchen | 2 | 1.7% | |
| 10 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 2 | 1.7% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 17 | 14.5% |
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 Tonasket mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 58 | 49.6% | |
| 2 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 27 | 23.1% | |
| 3 | Lightning | 6 | 5.1% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 5 | 4.3% | |
| 5 | Flying brand, ember, spark | 5 | 4.3% | |
| 6 | Cigarette | 3 | 2.6% | |
| 7 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 3 | 2.6% | |
| 8 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 2 | 1.7% | |
| 9 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 2 | 1.7% | |
| 10 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 2 | 1.7% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 4 | 3.4% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Tonasket departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $150,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $15,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $15,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $5,000 | Fire in mobile home used as fixed residence | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $5,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $5,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $4,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $2,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Tonasket sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 1,715,704 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | Natural | 255,575 | 32.5 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 223,731 | 45.1 mi | |
| 2015 | Equipment and vehicle use | 218,138 | 32.5 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 189,923 | 24.1 mi | |
| 2015 | Natural | 165,883 | 12.6 mi | |
| 2015 | Natural | 132,646 | 14.6 mi | |
| 2006 | Natural | 113,011 | 31.0 mi | |
| 2003 | Natural | 81,343 | 33.8 mi | |
| 2006 | Natural | 62,173 | 27.0 mi | |
| 2001 | Natural | 36,775 | 30.5 mi | |
| 2001 | Smoking | 32,960 | 25.0 mi | |
| 2018 | Natural | 24,429 | 42.5 mi |
Top 2 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 Tonasket. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Tonasket.
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.