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2025 County Report

Fires in Fairbanks North Star Borough, AK

In 2025, fire departments serving Fairbanks North Star Borough responded to 747 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $748K property loss. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as Very High.

95,048 residents FIPS 02090 29 cities · 2 fire depts
Total incidents
747
4,322 across 5 years
Building fires
203
56 wildland
Property loss
$8.4M
$6.7M structure · $1.7M contents
Casualties
2 / 6
2 civ deaths · 4 civ inj · 2 FF inj
01 The mix

What kinds of fires happen here?

Building fires lead by count. Top five categories make up about 53% of all calls.

747
Total Incidents
Building fires 203 27.2%
Passenger vehicle fire 59 7.9%
Outside rubbish, trash or waste fire 54 7.2%
Authorized controlled burning 44 5.9%
Carbon monoxide incident 37 5.0%
All other categories 350 46.9%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in Fairbanks North Star Borough?

May peaks. Mar dips.

Jan 51
Feb 42
Mar 34
Apr 44
May 112
Jun 88
Jul 81
Aug 78
Sep 59
Oct 56
Nov 35
Dec 67
03 Five-year trend

Year over year in Fairbanks North Star Borough

4,322 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 861
2022 1,043
2023 795
2024 876
2025 747
04 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 203 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional
45%
98
Cause undetermined
14%
30
Intentional / arson
9%
19
Equipment / heat source failure
16%
35
Under investigation
10%
21
Act of nature (lightning)
6%
2
05 The biggest fires

10 fires · $2.8M in losses

Largest single-incident property losses in Fairbanks North Star Borough during 2025. These 10 fires alone account for 43% of the county's total.

#Property lossCityTypeSeverity
1 $748,000 North Pole Building fires Major
2 $300,000 Fairbanks Building fires Major
3 $250,000 FAIRBANKS Building fires Major
4 $250,000 FAIRBANKS Building fires Major
5 $250,000 Fairbanks Building fires Major
6 $250,000 Fairbanks Building fires Major
7 $201,256 City of North Pole Building fires Significant
8 $200,000 FAIRBANKS Building fires Significant
9 $200,000 FAIRBANKS Passenger vehicle fire Significant
10 $200,000 North Pole Building fires Significant
06 How Fairbanks North Star Borough compares

Fairbanks North Star Borough vs AK vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

7.86
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Fairbanks North Star Borough
7.86
AK avg
8.42
US avg
7.15
2.14
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Fairbanks North Star Borough
2.14
AK avg
1.2
US avg
0.82
21
Civilian fire deaths per million
Fairbanks North Star Borough
21
AK avg
19.5
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in Fairbanks North Star Borough

12 cities mapped to FIPS 02090.

08 First responders

Busiest fire departments in Fairbanks North Star Borough

2 departments report from this county.

North Star Fire Service Area
North Pole
FDID 31600 160 incidents 1 paid
Chena Goldstream FireRescue
Fairbanks
FDID 31900 71 incidents
09 Historical wildfires

Largest fires recorded in AK

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

#NameYearAgencyAcres
1 832015 1988 AFS 558,928
2 Minto Flats South 2009 DVF 534,911
3 FYU NE 85 1990 BLM 433,768
4 BEAR CREEK 1977 AFS 374,389
5 Simels 1997 BLM 347,860
6 Big Creek Two 2015 BLM 312,918
7 BTTS S 40 1990 BLM 289,913
8 032018 1990 BLM 287,704
9 832064 1988 AFS 284,466
10 Sushgitit Hills 2015 BLM 276,038

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.