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2025 County Report

Fires in Grays Harbor County, WA

In 2025, fire departments serving Grays Harbor County responded to 940 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $394K property loss.

57,209 residents FIPS 53027 75 cities · 0 fire depts
Total incidents
940
5,971 across 5 years
Building fires
103
104 wildland
Property loss
$4.0M
$3.1M structure · $904K contents
Casualties
0 / 2
0 civ deaths · 2 civ inj · 0 FF inj
01 The mix

What kinds of fires happen here?

Unauthorized burning lead by count. Top five categories make up about 60% of all calls.

940
Total Incidents
Unauthorized burning 340 36.2%
Building fires 103 11.0%
Fire, other 41 4.4%
Passenger vehicle fire 41 4.4%
Natural vegetation fire, other 36 3.8%
All other categories 379 40.3%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in Grays Harbor County?

Jul peaks. Feb dips.

Jan 61
Feb 53
Mar 66
Apr 70
May 74
Jun 84
Jul 141
Aug 117
Sep 78
Oct 77
Nov 59
Dec 60
03 Five-year trend

Year over year in Grays Harbor County

5,971 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 1,470
2022 1,335
2023 1,161
2024 1,065
2025 940
04 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 103 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional
36%
69
Cause undetermined
25%
49
Intentional / arson
13%
25
Equipment / heat source failure
10%
20
Under investigation
16%
30
Act of nature (lightning)
0%
0
05 The biggest fires

10 fires · $2.2M in losses

Largest single-incident property losses in Grays Harbor County during 2025. These 10 fires alone account for 70% of the county's total.

#Property lossCityTypeSeverity
1 $394,383 Montesano Building fires Major
2 $350,000 Elma Building fires Major
3 $280,000 Elma Building fires Major
4 $200,000 Westport Building fires Significant
5 $190,000 98520 Building fires Significant
6 $187,000 Hoquiam Building fires Significant
7 $170,000 Elma Building fires Significant
8 $151,842 Hoquiam Building fires Significant
9 $150,000 Westport Building fires Significant
10 $140,690 Hoquiam Building fires Significant
06 How Grays Harbor County compares

Grays Harbor County vs WA vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

16.43
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Grays Harbor County
16.43
WA avg
8.31
US avg
7.15
1.8
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Grays Harbor County
1.8
WA avg
0.69
US avg
0.82
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
Grays Harbor County
0
WA avg
4.4
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in Grays Harbor County

12 cities mapped to FIPS 53027.

09 Historical wildfires

Largest fires recorded in WA

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

#NameYearAgencyAcres
1 Carlton 2014 BLM 230,101
2 Cold Springs 2020 BIA 189,911
3 Range 12 2016 DOD 176,834
4 Range 12 2016 BLM 175,245
5 Tunk Block 2015 BLM 165,004
6 North Star 2015 USFS 165,003
7 Diamond Creek 2017 USFS 126,836
8 Lime Belt 2015 BLM 120,526
9 SCHNEIDER SPRINGS 2021 USFS 107,352
10 Colockum Tarps 2013 BLM 81,513

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.