In 2025, fire departments serving Tumwater responded to 219 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $220K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Building fires lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 52% of all calls.
Oct peaks. Apr dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
1,088 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $5.0M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 186 | — | |
| 2022 | 212 | +14.0% | |
| 2023 | 246 | +16.0% | |
| 2024 | 225 | -8.5% | |
| 2025 | 219 | -2.7% |
For the 33 building fires Tumwater departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 210 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 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 36 | 17.1% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 31 | 14.8% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 19 | 9.0% | |
| 4 | Cooking area, kitchen | 13 | 6.2% | |
| 5 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 11 | 5.2% | |
| 6 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 9 | 4.3% | |
| 7 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 9 | 4.3% | |
| 8 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 8 | 3.8% | |
| 9 | Courtyard, patio, porch, terrace | 8 | 3.8% | |
| 10 | Wall surface: exterior | 7 | 3.3% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 59 | 28.1% |
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 Tumwater mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 121 | 57.6% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 16 | 7.6% | |
| 3 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 11 | 5.2% | |
| 4 | Hot ember or ash | 9 | 4.3% | |
| 5 | Arcing | 8 | 3.8% | |
| 6 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 8 | 3.8% | |
| 7 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 7 | 3.3% | |
| 8 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 7 | 3.3% | |
| 9 | Heat, spark from friction | 3 | 1.4% | |
| 10 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 3 | 1.4% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 17 | 8.1% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Tumwater departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 91% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $220,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $200,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $30,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $30,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $18,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $15,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $12,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $7,500 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Tumwater sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 11,163 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 | 41.9 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,243 | 49.5 mi | |
| 2006 | Fireworks | 1,100 | 39.7 mi | |
| 2009 | Natural | 817 | 49.5 mi | |
| 1997 | Debris and open burning | 594 | 22.4 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 494 | 30.7 mi | |
| 2010 | Natural | 385 | 47.4 mi | |
| 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 384 | 11.9 mi | |
| 2015 | Natural | 359 | 33.9 mi | |
| 1999 | Natural | 294 | 45.6 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 275 | 32.9 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 268 | 9.4 mi |
Top 7 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 Tumwater. 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.