Home› Counties› WA› Klickitat County
2025 County Report

Fires in Klickitat County, WA

In 2025, fire departments serving Klickitat County responded to 174 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $204K property loss. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as Very High.

10,865 residents FIPS 53039 44 cities · 0 fire depts
Total incidents
174
977 across 5 years
Building fires
12
73 wildland
Property loss
$835K
$660K structure · $174K contents
Casualties
0 / 1
0 civ deaths · 0 civ inj · 1 FF inj
01 The mix

What kinds of fires happen here?

Forest, woods or wildland fire lead by count. Top five categories make up about 55% of all calls.

174
Total Incidents
Forest, woods or wildland fire 28 16.1%
Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire 21 12.1%
Grass fire 17 9.8%
Authorized controlled burning 17 9.8%
Building fires 12 6.9%
All other categories 79 45.4%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in Klickitat County?

Jul peaks. Mar dips.

Jan 6
Feb 5
Mar 3
Apr 10
May 26
Jun 16
Jul 38
Aug 13
Sep 16
Oct 20
Nov 10
Dec 11
03 Five-year trend

Year over year in Klickitat County

977 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 258
2022 167
2023 214
2024 164
2025 174
04 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 12 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional
37%
28
Cause undetermined
24%
18
Intentional / arson
7%
5
Equipment / heat source failure
15%
11
Under investigation
11%
8
Act of nature (lightning)
6%
5
05 The biggest fires

10 fires · $629K in losses

Largest single-incident property losses in Klickitat County during 2025. These 10 fires alone account for 95% of the county's total.

#Property lossCityTypeSeverity
1 $203,500 Goldendale Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire Significant
2 $150,000 White Salmon Building fires Significant
3 $136,000 Goldendale Fire in motor home, camper, recreational vehicle Significant
4 $60,000 White Salmon Passenger vehicle fire Significant
5 $35,000 Goldendale Building fires Significant
6 $10,000 GOLDENDALE Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire Significant
7 $10,000 Goldendale Passenger vehicle fire Significant
8 $10,000 Goldendale Building fires Significant
9 $9,000 White Salmon Passenger vehicle fire Significant
10 $5,500 White Salmon Building fires Significant
06 How Klickitat County compares

Klickitat County vs WA vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

16.01
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Klickitat County
16.01
WA avg
8.31
US avg
7.15
1.1
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Klickitat County
1.1
WA avg
0.69
US avg
0.82
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
Klickitat County
0
WA avg
4.4
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in Klickitat County

12 cities mapped to FIPS 53039.

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.