In 2025, fire departments serving Washington responded to 111 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $50K 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 68% of all calls.
Nov peaks. Jun dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
520 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $2.1M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 107 | — | |
| 2022 | 86 | -19.6% | |
| 2023 | 71 | -17.4% | |
| 2024 | 145 | +104.2% | |
| 2025 | 111 | -23.4% |
For the 27 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 122 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 | 24 | 19.7% | |
| 2 | Cooking area, kitchen | 16 | 13.1% | |
| 3 | Other | 11 | 9.0% | |
| 4 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 10 | 8.2% | |
| 5 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 10 | 8.2% | |
| 6 | Undetermined | 10 | 8.2% | |
| 7 | Storage area, other | 6 | 4.9% | |
| 8 | Wall surface: exterior | 4 | 3.3% | |
| 9 | Function area, other | 3 | 2.5% | |
| 10 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 3 | 2.5% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 25 | 20.5% |
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 Washington mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 41 | 33.6% | |
| 2 | Hot ember or ash | 11 | 9.0% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 10 | 8.2% | |
| 4 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 9 | 7.4% | |
| 5 | Match | 9 | 7.4% | |
| 6 | Heat source: other | 7 | 5.7% | |
| 7 | Arcing | 6 | 4.9% | |
| 8 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 5 | 4.1% | |
| 9 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 4 | 3.3% | |
| 10 | Heat, spark from friction | 4 | 3.3% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 16 | 13.1% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Washington departments in 2025. These 3 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $10,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $5,000 | Fire in portable building, fixed location | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Washington sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
8 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 | 1 | |
| 30-39 | 1 | |
| 40-49 | 1 | |
| 50-59 | 1 | |
| 60-69 | 1 | |
| 70-79 | 0 | |
| 80+ | 1 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 110,555 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | Arson/incendiarism | 19,225 | 42.1 mi | |
| 2007 | Arson/incendiarism | 17,050 | 40.6 mi | |
| 1999 | Equipment and vehicle use | 11,765 | 34.8 mi | |
| 2019 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 11,638 | 33.1 mi | |
| 1992 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 5,284 | 41.5 mi | |
| 1992 | Arson/incendiarism | 4,832 | 43.8 mi | |
| 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 3,577 | 23.4 mi | |
| 2017 | Natural | 3,477 | 43.7 mi | |
| 1992 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,900 | 28.0 mi | |
| 2001 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,730 | 43.1 mi | |
| 2002 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,600 | 36.2 mi | |
| 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,450 | 19.7 mi |
Top 8 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
Six New Jersey cities with population within ±25% of Washington. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
2 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.