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2025 County Report

Fires in Walla Walla County, WA

In 2025, fire departments serving Walla Walla County responded to 534 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $437K property loss. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as Very High.

52,708 residents FIPS 53071 73 cities · 2 fire depts
Total incidents
534
2,531 across 5 years
Building fires
41
146 wildland
Property loss
$3.7M
$2.2M structure · $1.5M contents
Casualties
0 / 0
0 civ deaths · 0 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 47% of all calls.

534
Total Incidents
Unauthorized burning 56 10.5%
Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire 54 10.1%
Power line down 54 10.1%
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) 43 8.1%
Building fires 41 7.7%
All other categories 286 53.6%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in Walla Walla County?

Jul peaks. Jan dips.

Jan 23
Feb 32
Mar 33
Apr 38
May 41
Jun 73
Jul 87
Aug 54
Sep 55
Oct 41
Nov 29
Dec 28
03 Five-year trend

Year over year in Walla Walla County

2,531 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 584
2022 415
2023 562
2024 436
2025 534
04 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 41 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional
41%
30
Cause undetermined
18%
13
Intentional / arson
9%
7
Equipment / heat source failure
16%
12
Under investigation
11%
8
Act of nature (lightning)
5%
1
05 The biggest fires

10 fires · $1.7M in losses

Largest single-incident property losses in Walla Walla County during 2025. These 10 fires alone account for 74% of the county's total.

#Property lossCityTypeSeverity
1 $436,890 Walla Walla Building fires Major
2 $250,000 Burbank Building fires Major
3 $222,417 Walla Walla Building fires Significant
4 $200,000 Burbank Road freight or transport vehicle fire Significant
5 $110,000 Walla Walla Building fires Significant
6 $100,000 Wallula Building fires Significant
7 $100,000 WACO Building fires Significant
8 $100,000 Walla Walla Building fires Significant
9 $75,000 Walla Walla Building fires Significant
10 $75,000 Walla Walla Building fires Significant
06 How Walla Walla County compares

Walla Walla County vs WA vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

10.13
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Walla Walla County
10.13
WA avg
8.31
US avg
7.15
0.78
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Walla Walla County
0.78
WA avg
0.69
US avg
0.82
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
Walla Walla County
0
WA avg
4.4
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in Walla Walla County

12 cities mapped to FIPS 53071.

08 First responders

Busiest fire departments in Walla Walla County

2 departments report from this county.

College Place Fire Station
College Place
FDID 36M01 14 incidents 9 paid
Prescott Fire Dept
—
FDID 36M02 0 incidents
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.