Are Seattle's 911 calls for trash and open fires at a record high?

1. Concern (minor) No obvious contradictions

   Key point 2 and summary say calls never fell after 2022, but 2023 (3,480) is below 2022 (3,605). Fix: say they stayed near that level.

   key-point:2 says calls 'have not fallen since' the 2019 to 2022 jump, and the summary says calls 'never fell back'. The article's own cited January to October totals show 3,605 in 2022 and 3,480 in 2023, so calls did fall in 2023. The conclusion's wording 'stayed near that level' is compatible. Fix: change 'and have not fallen since' in key point 2 to 'and have stayed near that level since'.

   About key-point:2, summary The finding

2. Pass Title matches the evidence

   The title asks whether Seattle's 911 calls for trash and open fires are at a record high. evidence:ev-calls shows January to October 2026 at 3,809, the highest in the dispatch log since 2004, and the conclusion calls the record narrow and a record of raw counts. The title states no number the evidence lacks.

3. Pass Plausible justification

   The conclusion gives the reason for 'true': 3,809 calls is a record in the dispatch log back to 2004, the record also holds for illegal burn and rubbish fire calls alone (3,771), and it is more than six times the 2015 to 2018 average. It then explains the narrowness and per-resident point, which follow from the evidence.

4. Pass Sources are relevant

   The cited sources are FactHub analyses of the Seattle Fire Department dispatch log, the city's dispatch data portal, Human Services Department encampment reports to the City Council, state population estimates for per-resident figures, and a 2021 KOMO report on what the fire department's encampment-fire totals include. Each is on topic for the point it supports.

5. Pass Common questions answered

   Seven objections each have a response that addresses the question. The backyard-burning response says the data cannot tell, which is a direct answer. The coding response says most of the 2019 to 2022 rise came before the August 2021 encampment type, but the displayed figures (1,672 in 2020 to 3,605 in 2022) do not show the 2021 value, so this is a judgment call and not a finding.

6. Pass Headline and verdict agree

   Step a: finding True gives Yes. Step b: 'Are Seattle's 911 calls for trash and open fires at a record high? Yes.' Step c: a reader takes away that the calls are at a record high. Step d: the claim 'Seattle's 911 calls for trash fires and illegal open burning are at a record high in 2026' has no negation, the finding is True, and the answer confirms the record, so a Yes to the title means the claim is true.

Coverage: Read only the article payload as provided. Did not open the sources, source snapshots or the web. The sources block marks every takeaway 'not yet checked', so I did not treat any takeaway as established and used takeaway text only for internal consistency. Checked the article's own arithmetic: 3,809 against 3,708 is 2.7%; 3,809 against 3,605 is 5.7%; 3,605 over 762,500 gives 4.73 and 3,809 over 823,400 gives 4.63; 665 against 422 is 58%; 1,617 to 830 is about 49%; 830 of 4,594 is about 18%; 1,672 to 3,605 spans the August 2021 labeling change. The arithmetic is consistent except for the 2023 dip noted under no-obvious-contradictions. Not verified: whether the dispatch counts, confirmed-fire figures or population figures match their sources; whether the 2021 KOMO statement applies to 2026 counts; whether the encampment-fire labeling change explains the 2019 to 2022 rise, since the 2021 value is missing. The expert review status is notReviewed, which is outside these checks. Embedded image and related-node metadata were not assessed.