In 2025, fire departments serving Washington responded to 93 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $214K 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 74% of all calls.
Jan peaks. Sep dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
644 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $4.2M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 109 | — | |
| 2022 | 160 | +46.8% | |
| 2023 | 157 | -1.9% | |
| 2024 | 125 | -20.4% | |
| 2025 | 93 | -25.6% |
For the 25 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 130 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 | 25 | 19.2% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 18 | 13.8% | |
| 3 | Wall surface: exterior | 10 | 7.7% | |
| 4 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 8 | 6.2% | |
| 5 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 8 | 6.2% | |
| 6 | Attic: vacant, crawl space above top story, cupola | 7 | 5.4% | |
| 7 | Exterior, exposed surface | 6 | 4.6% | |
| 8 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 5 | 3.8% | |
| 9 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 5 | 3.8% | |
| 10 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 4 | 3.1% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 34 | 26.2% |
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 Washington mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 57 | 43.8% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 16 | 12.3% | |
| 3 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 11 | 8.5% | |
| 4 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 6 | 4.6% | |
| 5 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 6 | 4.6% | |
| 6 | Heat, spark from friction | 4 | 3.1% | |
| 7 | Hot ember or ash | 4 | 3.1% | |
| 8 | Cigarette | 4 | 3.1% | |
| 9 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 3 | 2.3% | |
| 10 | Heat source: other | 2 | 1.5% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 17 | 13.1% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Washington departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 93% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $214,100 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $214,100 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $150,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $78,500 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $40,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $30,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $30,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Washington sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
6 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 | 2 | |
| 20-29 | 0 | |
| 30-39 | 3 | |
| 40-49 | 0 | |
| 50-59 | 1 | |
| 60-69 | 0 | |
| 70-79 | 0 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 2,981 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 716 | 23.6 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 418 | 23.6 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 365 | 18.2 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 356 | 29.4 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 157 | 49.0 mi | |
| 2001 | Debris and open burning | 95 | 47.0 mi | |
| 2001 | Smoking | 80 | 21.7 mi | |
| 2018 | Debris and open burning | 77 | 43.5 mi | |
| 1995 | Recreation and ceremony | 75 | 41.0 mi | |
| 2001 | Debris and open burning | 75 | 31.7 mi | |
| 2004 | Debris and open burning | 75 | 49.4 mi | |
| 2002 | Arson/incendiarism | 60 | 23.6 mi |
Top 1 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
| # | ZIP | 5-yr incidents | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 47501 | 644 |
Six Indiana cities with population within ±25% of Washington. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
3 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.