In 2025, fire departments across Alaska responded to 6,051 fire and hazmat incidents — including the 832015 wildfire that burned 558,929 acres in 1988.
Alaska ranks #2 in cumulative acres burned in the NIFC perimeter atlas. Hover any state to compare; click to drill in.
Building fires lead by count. Top five categories cover roughly 52% of all calls.
Jul peaks. Nov dips. (Latest year: 2025.)
5-year cumulative seasonality smooths out single-year noise. May peaks across the window; Feb dips.
29,559 incidents from 2021 through 2025 across all reporting departments.
| Year | Incidents | |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 5,352 | |
| 2022 | 6,384 | |
| 2023 | 5,798 | |
| 2024 | 5,974 | |
| 2025 | 6,051 |
For the 859 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.
Combined NFIRS + FPA-FOD totals across the available reporting window. Click a cause to see how it plays out nationwide.
| # | Cause | Incidents | FOD vs NFIRS | Acres | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Natural (lightning) | 5,193 | 5,089 / 104 | 34,405,700 | |
| 2 | Undetermined / missing | 4,709 | 2,652 / 2,057 | 1,025,358 | |
| 3 | Debris & open burning | 2,585 | 2,585 / 0 | 307,655 | |
| 4 | Recreation & ceremony | 1,880 | 1,880 / 0 | 132,501 | |
| 5 | Arson / incendiarism | 1,648 | 382 / 1,266 | 488,999 | |
| 6 | Equipment & vehicle use | 1,602 | 464 / 1,138 | 180,365 | |
| 7 | Other causes | 812 | 428 / 384 | 1,158 | |
| 8 | Misuse of fire by a minor | 567 | 567 / 0 | 723 | |
| 9 | Power generation / utility | 465 | 465 / 0 | 14,901 | |
| 10 | Smoking | 273 | 273 / 0 | 8,799 | |
| 11 | Firearms & explosives | 204 | 204 / 0 | 50,224 | |
| 12 | Fireworks | 194 | 194 / 0 | 37,722 |
Topical groupings of NFIRS incident types — building, cooking, electrical, vehicle, and more. Each links to its national rollup.
| # | Topic | Incidents | Loss | Deaths | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Outdoor fires | 8,477 | $1.1M | 1 | |
| 2 | Building fires | 7,587 | $247.8M | 103 | |
| 3 | Rubbish / refuse | 4,874 | $602K | 0 | |
| 4 | Gas leaks | 4,204 | $237K | 0 | |
| 5 | Electrical / wiring | 2,766 | $33K | 0 | |
| 6 | Vehicle fires | 2,685 | $33.2M | 7 | |
| 7 | Wildland fires | 1,959 | $704K | 1 | |
| 8 | Cooking-related | 1,373 | $191K | 0 | |
| 9 | Arson | 17 | $0 | 0 |
Largest single-incident property losses statewide in 2025. These 10 fires alone account for 29% of Alaska's total.
| # | Property loss | City | Type | Severity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $5,500,000 | Glennallen | Building fires | Catastrophic |
| 2 | $4,228,045 | Anchorage | Building fires | Major |
| 3 | $2,000,000 | Anchorage | Building fires | Major |
| 4 | $1,626,930 | Anchorage | Building fires | Major |
| 5 | $925,000 | Anchorage | Building fires | Major |
| 6 | $925,000 | Anchorage | Building fires | Major |
| 7 | $800,000 | Anchorage | Building fires | Major |
| 8 | $790,000 | Wasilla | Building fires | Major |
| 9 | $790,000 | Wasilla | Passenger vehicle fire | Major |
| 10 | $750,000 | Eagle River | Building fires | Major |
Per-capita rates let us compare Alaska apples-to-apples to the national average.
12 largest reporting cities by population.
Top 10 counties by reported NFIRS incidents in 2025.
| # | County | Incidents | Population |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Anchorage Municipality | 2,461 | 290,674 |
| 2 | Matanuska-Susitna Borough | 1,281 | 103,540 |
| 3 | Fairbanks North Star Borough | 747 | 95,048 |
| 4 | Kenai Peninsula Borough | 694 | 58,866 |
| 5 | Juneau City and Borough | 206 | 32,108 |
| 6 | Kodiak Island Borough | 99 | 12,917 |
| 7 | Ketchikan Gateway Borough | 94 | 8,529 |
| 8 | North Slope Borough | 82 | 9,410 |
| 9 | Bethel Census Area | 57 | 18,318 |
| 10 | Nome Census Area | 42 | 9,801 |
Top 4 counties by NFIRS incidents per 1,000 residents (population ≥ 50,000). Surfaces signal beyond the mega-counties.
| # | County | Inc / 1k | Incidents | Population | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Matanuska-Susitna Borough | 12.37 | 1,281 | 103,540 | |
| 2 | Kenai Peninsula Borough | 11.79 | 694 | 58,866 | |
| 3 | Anchorage Municipality | 8.47 | 2,461 | 290,674 | |
| 4 | Fairbanks North Star Borough | 7.86 | 747 | 95,048 |
By incident count in 2025.
By acres burned. Sourced from the NIFC InterAgency Fire Perimeter History.
| # | Name | Year | Agency | Acres |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 |
4010 perimeters and 33,094,953 acres recorded since 1900.
| Decade | Fires | Acres | Activity |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1950s | 31 | 418,273 | |
| 1970s | 104 | 2,909,095 | |
| 1980s | 483 | 3,994,947 | |
| 1990s | 736 | 6,914,144 | |
| 2000s | 74 | 2,063,325 | |
| 2010s | 1,568 | 12,148,746 | |
| 2020s | 1,014 | 4,646,423 |
FPA-FOD ignitions by decade, broken down by cause category. Each row sums to the decade's total; the bars show the share each cause contributed.
| Decade | Total fires | Share by cause |
|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 4,720 | |
| 2000s | 4,747 | |
| 2010s | 5,379 | |
| 2020s | 349 |
FPA-FOD ignitions by month, all years on record. Distinct from NFIRS — captures unreported wildlands across rural and remote terrain. 15,195 ignitions total.
602 fire-related casualties recorded in NFIRS Module 11 across the 5-year window. Age and gender are coarse-binned for privacy.
| Age | Count | |
|---|---|---|
| 0-9 | 22 | |
| 10-19 | 47 | |
| 20-29 | 87 | |
| 30-39 | 130 | |
| 40-49 | 111 | |
| 50-59 | 81 | |
| 60-69 | 71 | |
| 70-79 | 36 | |
| 80+ | 11 |
State totals reflect incidents reported by fire departments to NFIRS for 2025. The 5-year totals span 2021 through 2025. Wildfire perimeters and decade-by-decade counts are sourced from the NIFC InterAgency Fire Perimeter History service. NFIRS reporting is voluntary, so totals are a strong indicator rather than a complete census.