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2025 County Report

Fires in Sitka City and Borough, AK

In 2025, fire departments serving Sitka City and Borough responded to 19 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $40K property loss.

8,462 residents FIPS 02220 4 cities · 0 fire depts
Total incidents
19
183 across 5 years
Building fires
0
1 wildland
Property loss
$51K
$41K structure · $11K contents
Casualties
0 / 0
0 civ deaths · 0 civ inj · 0 FF inj
01 The mix

What kinds of fires happen here?

Authorized controlled burning lead by count. Top five categories make up about 69% of all calls.

19
Total Incidents
Authorized controlled burning 5 26.3%
Water vehicle fire 3 15.8%
Gasoline or other flammable liquid spill 3 15.8%
Chimney or flue fire, confined to chimney or flue 1 5.3%
Trash or rubbish fire, contained 1 5.3%
All other categories 6 31.6%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in Sitka City and Borough?

Feb peaks. Jul dips.

Jan 3
Feb 4
Mar 1
Apr 1
May 4
Jun 2
Jul 0
Aug 2
Sep 2
Oct 0
Nov 0
Dec 0
03 Five-year trend

Year over year in Sitka City and Borough

183 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 39
2022 37
2023 42
2024 46
2025 19
04 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 0 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional
75%
3
Cause undetermined
25%
1
Intentional / arson
0%
0
Equipment / heat source failure
0%
0
Under investigation
0%
0
Act of nature (lightning)
0%
0
05 The biggest fires

2 fires · $41K in losses

Largest single-incident property losses in Sitka City and Borough during 2025. These 2 fires alone account for 100% of the county's total.

#Property lossCityTypeSeverity
1 $40,000 Sitka Water vehicle fire Significant
2 $500 Sitka Water vehicle fire Significant
06 How Sitka City and Borough compares

Sitka City and Borough vs AK vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

2.25
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Sitka City and Borough
2.25
AK avg
8.42
US avg
7.15
0
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Sitka City and Borough
0
AK avg
1.2
US avg
0.82
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
Sitka City and Borough
0
AK avg
19.5
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in Sitka City and Borough

4 cities mapped to FIPS 02220.

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.