In 2025, fire departments serving Yelm responded to 146 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $250K 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 55% of all calls.
Jul peaks. Feb dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
781 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $3.0M cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 162 | — | |
| 2022 | 164 | +1.2% | |
| 2023 | 155 | -5.5% | |
| 2024 | 154 | -0.6% | |
| 2025 | 146 | -5.2% |
For the 30 building fires Yelm departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 218 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 | 45 | 20.6% | |
| 2 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 27 | 12.4% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 25 | 11.5% | |
| 4 | Other | 23 | 10.6% | |
| 5 | Cooking area, kitchen | 11 | 5.0% | |
| 6 | Function area, other | 10 | 4.6% | |
| 7 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 8 | 3.7% | |
| 8 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 7 | 3.2% | |
| 9 | Vehicle area, other | 7 | 3.2% | |
| 10 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 7 | 3.2% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 48 | 22.0% |
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 Yelm mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 103 | 47.2% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 16 | 7.3% | |
| 3 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 15 | 6.9% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 11 | 5.0% | |
| 5 | Cigarette lighter | 9 | 4.1% | |
| 6 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 8 | 3.7% | |
| 7 | Hot ember or ash | 8 | 3.7% | |
| 8 | Fireworks | 8 | 3.7% | |
| 9 | Match | 7 | 3.2% | |
| 10 | Heat source: other | 6 | 2.8% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 27 | 12.4% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Yelm departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 97% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $250,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $200,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $100,000 | Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $17,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $10,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $10,000 | Camper or recreational vehicle (RV) fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $10,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Yelm sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 9,057 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | Equipment and vehicle use | 3,312 | 50.0 mi | |
| 1997 | Debris and open burning | 594 | 32.3 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 494 | 22.6 mi | |
| 2018 | Natural | 420 | 43.5 mi | |
| 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 384 | 19.7 mi | |
| 2015 | Natural | 359 | 20.4 mi | |
| 2003 | Natural | 310 | 42.9 mi | |
| 1995 | Debris and open burning | 290 | 41.2 mi | |
| 2006 | Arson/incendiarism | 280 | 33.6 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 280 | 43.2 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 275 | 20.1 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 268 | 20.2 mi |
Top 10 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
Six Washington cities with population within ±25% of Yelm. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
2 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Yelm.
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.