Home› Counties› DC› District of Columbia
2025 County Report

Fires in District of Columbia, DC

In 2025, fire departments serving District of Columbia responded to 6,865 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $3.0M property loss.

670,587 residents FIPS 11001 6 cities · 1 fire depts
Total incidents
6,865
25,866 across 5 years
Building fires
1,109
243 wildland
Property loss
$30.4M
$26.2M structure · $4.3M contents
Casualties
3 / 14
3 civ deaths · 10 civ inj · 4 FF inj
01 The mix

What kinds of fires happen here?

Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) lead by count. Top five categories make up about 83% of all calls.

6,865
Total Incidents
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) 3,156 46.0%
Building fires 1,109 16.2%
Power line down 627 9.1%
Dumpster or other outside trash receptacle fire 542 7.9%
Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire 229 3.3%
All other categories 1,202 17.5%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in District of Columbia?

Jan peaks. Dec dips.

Jan 767
Feb 599
Mar 617
Apr 496
May 569
Jun 662
Jul 691
Aug 533
Sep 575
Oct 553
Nov 564
Dec 239
03 Five-year trend

Year over year in District of Columbia

25,866 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 37
2022 4,152
2023 6,791
2024 8,021
2025 6,865
04 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 1,109 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional
53%
830
Cause undetermined
26%
402
Intentional / arson
7%
116
Equipment / heat source failure
5%
81
Under investigation
8%
128
Act of nature (lightning)
1%
12
05 The biggest fires

10 fires · $12.1M in losses

Largest single-incident property losses in District of Columbia during 2025. These 10 fires alone account for 46% of the county's total.

#Property lossCityTypeSeverity
1 $3,000,000 WASHINGTON Building fires Major
2 $2,500,000 WASHINGTON Building fires Major
3 $1,500,000 WASHINGTON Building fires Major
4 $1,000,000 WASHINGTON Building fires Major
5 $1,000,000 WASHINGTON Building fires Major
6 $750,000 WASHINGTON Building fires Major
7 $700,000 WASHINGTON Building fires Major
8 $690,000 WASHINGTON Building fires Major
9 $500,000 WASHINGTON Building fires Major
10 $500,000 WASHINGTON Building fires Major
06 How District of Columbia compares

District of Columbia vs DC vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

10.24
Incidents per 1,000 residents
District of Columbia
10.24
DC avg
10.24
US avg
7.15
1.65
Building fires per 1,000 residents
District of Columbia
1.65
DC avg
1.66
US avg
0.82
4.5
Civilian fire deaths per million
District of Columbia
4.5
DC avg
4.5
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in District of Columbia

6 cities mapped to FIPS 11001.

CityPopulation 
Washington 670,587 View ›
Fort Dupont 0 View ›
Marshall Heights 0 View ›
Crestwood 0 View ›
Fort Davis 0 View ›
Park View 0 View ›
08 First responders

Busiest fire departments in District of Columbia

1 departments report from this county.

WASHINGTON DC FIREEMS
Washington
FDID 11001 6,867 incidents 1,800 paid
09 Historical wildfires

Largest fires recorded in DC

Top 10 fire perimeters by acres burned (state-scoped fallback while we build out per-county polygons).

#NameYearAgencyAcres
1 PASTURE 1 1988 NPS 45
2 WISE BEECH 1971 NPS 13
3 NUMBER 2 1969 NPS 13
4 Powder Mill Fire 2018 NPS 13
5 RILEY 1963 NPS 12
6 RIDGE#2 1988 NPS 8
7 D C LINE 1971 NPS 8
8 BEACH 1963 NPS 5
9 PINEY BRANCH FIRE 2023 NPS 5
10 GRANT RD 1994 NPS 4

About this data

County-level NFIRS aggregates for 2025, plus 5-year totals across 2021–2025. NFIRS is voluntary — about 23,000 of roughly 30,000 US fire departments report — so totals are a strong indicator, not a complete census. Wildfire risk score (0–100) and Expected Annual Loss come from FEMA's National Risk Index. Drought class is the most recent USDM classification (D0 = abnormally dry through D4 = exceptional drought). Historical fire perimeters are sourced from the NIFC InterAgency Fire Perimeter History.