In 2025, fire departments serving Washington County responded to 680 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $300K property loss.
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) lead by count. Top five categories make up about 48% of all calls.
Aug peaks. Dec dips.
4,628 incidents from 2021 through 2025.
| Year | Incidents | |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 1,318 | |
| 2022 | 1,296 | |
| 2023 | 957 | |
| 2024 | 377 | |
| 2025 | 680 |
For the 47 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.
Largest single-incident property losses in Washington County during 2025. These 10 fires alone account for 99% of the county's total.
| # | Property loss | City | Type | Severity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $300,000 | Westerly | Building fires | Major |
| 2 | $75,000 | Westerly | Arcing, shorted electrical equipment | Significant |
| 3 | $60,000 | Exeter | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant |
| 4 | $50,000 | South Kingstown | Building fires | Significant |
| 5 | $45,000 | WESTERLY | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant |
| 6 | $40,000 | Saunderstown | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant |
| 7 | $30,000 | NARRAGANSETT | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant |
| 8 | $10,000 | WESTERLY | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant |
| 9 | $10,000 | WESTERLY | Building fires | Significant |
| 10 | $4,000 | Exeter | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.
12 cities mapped to FIPS 44009.
| City | Population | |
|---|---|---|
| South Kingstown | 31,928 | View › |
| North Kingstown | 27,719 | View › |
| Westerly | 23,337 | View › |
| Narragansett | 14,623 | View › |
| Hopkinton | 8,402 | View › |
| Richmond | 8,077 | View › |
| Charlestown | 7,998 | View › |
| Exeter | 6,952 | View › |
| Kingston | 6,560 | View › |
| Narragansett Pier | 2,805 | View › |
| Hope Valley | 2,209 | View › |
| Ashaway | 1,662 | View › |
2 departments report from this county.
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.