In 2025, fire departments serving Washington responded to 18 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $250K 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 83% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Jan dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
71 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2021. $549K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 21 | — | |
| 2022 | 17 | -19.0% | |
| 2023* | 5 | — | |
| 2024 | 10 | — | |
| 2025 | 18 | +80.0% |
* Well below Washington's usual volume. That almost always means one or more departments didn't submit a full year to NFIRS, not that fires dropped, so no year-over-year change is shown for it.
For the 3 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 8 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 | 2 | 25.0% | |
| 2 | Dining room, cafeteria bar area, beverage service | 1 | 12.5% | |
| 3 | Cooking area, kitchen | 1 | 12.5% | |
| 4 | Storage area, other | 1 | 12.5% | |
| 5 | Heating room or area, water heater area | 1 | 12.5% | |
| 6 | Structural area, other | 1 | 12.5% | |
| 7 | Wall assembly | 1 | 12.5% |
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 | 4 | 50.0% | |
| 2 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 2 | 25.0% | |
| 3 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 1 | 12.5% | |
| 4 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 1 | 12.5% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Washington departments in 2025. These 2 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $250,000 | Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $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.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 828 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 137 | 24.0 mi | |
| 2012 | Debris and open burning | 120 | 9.9 mi | |
| 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 72 | 31.8 mi | |
| 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 60 | 41.6 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 54 | 34.6 mi | |
| 2012 | Recreation and ceremony | 50 | 47.3 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 47 | 9.3 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 40 | 38.2 mi | |
| 2012 | Debris and open burning | 35 | 28.7 mi | |
| 2013 | Debris and open burning | 22 | 41.2 mi | |
| 2013 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 20 | 25.5 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 16 | 47.5 mi |
Top 5 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
Six Vermont 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.