In 2025, fire departments serving Washington responded to 204 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $300K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Hazardous condition, other lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 57% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
972 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $2.1M cumulative property loss. 2 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 204 | — | |
| 2022 | 173 | -15.2% | |
| 2023 | 212 | +22.5% | |
| 2024 | 179 | -15.6% | |
| 2025 | 204 | +14.0% |
For the 12 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 281 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 | Outside area, other | 52 | 18.5% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 39 | 13.9% | |
| 3 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 33 | 11.7% | |
| 4 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 27 | 9.6% | |
| 5 | Cooking area, kitchen | 17 | 6.0% | |
| 6 | Wildland, woods | 9 | 3.2% | |
| 7 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 8 | 2.8% | |
| 8 | Undetermined | 8 | 2.8% | |
| 9 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 6 | 2.1% | |
| 10 | Equipment or service area, other | 6 | 2.1% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 76 | 27.0% |
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 | 127 | 45.2% | |
| 2 | Hot ember or ash | 27 | 9.6% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 23 | 8.2% | |
| 4 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 16 | 5.7% | |
| 5 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 14 | 5.0% | |
| 6 | Cigarette | 9 | 3.2% | |
| 7 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 8 | 2.8% | |
| 8 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 7 | 2.5% | |
| 9 | Heat source: other | 6 | 2.1% | |
| 10 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 6 | 2.1% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 38 | 13.5% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Washington departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 95% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $300,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $125,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $60,000 | Fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $25,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $20,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Washington sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
13 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 | 5 | |
| 30-39 | 1 | |
| 40-49 | 3 | |
| 50-59 | 1 | |
| 60-69 | 0 | |
| 70-79 | 3 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 9,379 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,475 | 42.1 mi | |
| 2004 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,026 | 35.2 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 800 | 32.5 mi | |
| 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 685 | 29.7 mi | |
| 1997 | Misuse of fire by a minor | 522 | 42.3 mi | |
| 1992 | Debris and open burning | 517 | 34.3 mi | |
| 2005 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 387 | 40.7 mi | |
| 2019 | Arson/incendiarism | 365 | 37.7 mi | |
| 1999 | Debris and open burning | 360 | 19.9 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 300 | 29.5 mi | |
| 1997 | Debris and open burning | 270 | 35.1 mi | |
| 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 265 | 19.7 mi |
Top 3 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
Six Missouri cities with population within ±25% of Washington. 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.