In 2025, fire departments serving Washington responded to 135 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $200K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 62% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
613 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2021. $2.9M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 141 | — | |
| 2022 | 96 | -31.9% | |
| 2023 | 111 | +15.6% | |
| 2024 | 130 | +17.1% | |
| 2025 | 135 | +3.8% |
For the 18 building fires Washington departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 181 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 | 40 | 22.1% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 24 | 13.3% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 21 | 11.6% | |
| 4 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 15 | 8.3% | |
| 5 | Cooking area, kitchen | 12 | 6.6% | |
| 6 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 9 | 5.0% | |
| 7 | Other | 5 | 2.8% | |
| 8 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 5 | 2.8% | |
| 9 | Vehicle area, other | 5 | 2.8% | |
| 10 | Storage area, other | 4 | 2.2% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 41 | 22.7% |
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 Washington mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 83 | 45.9% | |
| 2 | Hot ember or ash | 18 | 9.9% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 15 | 8.3% | |
| 4 | Heat source: other | 11 | 6.1% | |
| 5 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 10 | 5.5% | |
| 6 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 7 | 3.9% | |
| 7 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 6 | 3.3% | |
| 8 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 4 | 2.2% | |
| 9 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 4 | 2.2% | |
| 10 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 3 | 1.7% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 20 | 11.0% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Washington departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 99% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $200,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $15,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $5,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $5,000 | Fires in structures other than in a building | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $2,500 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $1,500 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $1,000 | Trash or rubbish fire, contained | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $1,000 | Fires in structures other than in a building | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Washington sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
5 fire-related casualties recorded in NFIRS Module 11 across the 2021–2025 window. Age, gender, and severity are coarse-binned — no individual identification possible.
| Age | Count | |
|---|---|---|
| 0-9 | 0 | |
| 10-19 | 0 | |
| 20-29 | 0 | |
| 30-39 | 0 | |
| 40-49 | 0 | |
| 50-59 | 3 | |
| 60-69 | 1 | |
| 70-79 | 1 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 2,246 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 375 | 31.7 mi | |
| 1999 | Debris and open burning | 250 | 44.1 mi | |
| 2012 | Debris and open burning | 210 | 49.5 mi | |
| 2018 | Debris and open burning | 200 | 20.9 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 200 | 45.6 mi | |
| 2020 | Debris and open burning | 110 | 40.1 mi | |
| 2018 | Equipment and vehicle use | 80 | 39.3 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 75 | 49.0 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 60 | 22.8 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 60 | 36.1 mi | |
| 2017 | Natural | 60 | 49.5 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 51 | 23.6 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 Illinois cities with population within ±25% of Washington. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Washington.
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.