In 2025, fire departments serving Whatcom County responded to 1,278 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $1.0M property loss. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as High.
Unauthorized burning lead by count. Top five categories make up about 49% of all calls.
Jul peaks. Dec dips.
8,841 incidents from 2021 through 2025.
| Year | Incidents | |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 2,059 | |
| 2022 | 1,912 | |
| 2023 | 1,884 | |
| 2024 | 1,708 | |
| 2025 | 1,278 |
For the 70 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.
Largest single-incident property losses in Whatcom County during 2025. These 10 fires alone account for 73% of the county's total.
| # | Property loss | City | Type | Severity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $1,000,000 | Ferndale | Building fires | Major |
| 2 | $700,000 | Bellingham | Building fires | Major |
| 3 | $600,000 | Blaine | Building fires | Major |
| 4 | $400,000 | Lynden | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Major |
| 5 | $300,000 | Sumas | Building fires | Major |
| 6 | $226,884 | Sumas | Building fires | Significant |
| 7 | $200,000 | Ferndale | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant |
| 8 | $159,000 | Sumas | Building fires | Significant |
| 9 | $150,000 | Bellingham | Fire in motor home, camper, recreational vehicle | Significant |
| 10 | $125,000 | Bellingham | Outside equipment fire | Significant |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.
12 cities mapped to FIPS 53073.
1 departments report from this county.
Top 10 fire perimeters by acres burned (state-scoped fallback while we build out per-county polygons).
| # | Name | Year | Agency | Acres |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 |
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.