Senators Warn Federal Firefighting Budget Nearly Exhausted With Fire Season Not Over
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In 2025, fire departments serving Banks responded to 30 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $15K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Authorized controlled burning lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 57% of all calls.
Dec peaks. Mar dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
196 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2021. $2.2M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 59 | — | |
| 2022 | 56 | -5.1% | |
| 2023* | 16 | — | |
| 2024 | 35 | — | |
| 2025 | 30 | -14.3% |
* Well below Banks's usual volume. That almost always means one or more departments didn't submit a full year to NFIRS, not that fires dropped, so no year-over-year change is shown for it.
For the 2 building fires Banks departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 46 building fires investigators classified across 2021–2025. The room or location where ignition occurred — kitchens, bedrooms, exterior, vehicle areas — tells you where to focus prevention.
| # | Area of origin | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Other | 11 | 23.9% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 7 | 15.2% | |
| 3 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 3 | 6.5% | |
| 4 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 3 | 6.5% | |
| 5 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 3 | 6.5% | |
| 6 | Undetermined | 3 | 6.5% | |
| 7 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 2 | 4.3% | |
| 8 | Vehicle area, other | 2 | 4.3% | |
| 9 | Cargo/trunk area - all vehicles | 2 | 4.3% | |
| 10 | Courtyard, patio, porch, terrace | 2 | 4.3% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 8 | 17.4% |
NFIRS Heat Source (HEAT_SOURC) — the physical thing that started it. Spark or ember from operating equipment, an open flame, smoking materials, or hot embers from a fireplace are the leading culprits nationwide. Here's the Banks mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 19 | 41.3% | |
| 2 | Heat source: other | 8 | 17.4% | |
| 3 | Hot ember or ash | 6 | 13.0% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 4 | 8.7% | |
| 5 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 3 | 6.5% | |
| 6 | Fireworks | 2 | 4.3% | |
| 7 | Arcing | 1 | 2.2% | |
| 8 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 1 | 2.2% | |
| 9 | Match | 1 | 2.2% | |
| 10 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 1 | 2.2% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Banks departments in 2025. These 4 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $15,000 | Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $9,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $7,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $5,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Banks sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 15,326 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | Natural | 7,500 | 23.6 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,584 | 39.4 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,508 | 40.0 mi | |
| 2020 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 532 | 45.6 mi | |
| 2020 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 497 | 44.6 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 301 | 36.5 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 254 | 42.0 mi | |
| 2015 | Recreation and ceremony | 215 | 33.7 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 211 | 9.8 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 166 | 19.3 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 145 | 38.9 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 143 | 43.0 mi |
Top 2 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
Six Oregon cities with population within ±25% of Banks. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
A 30-minute weekend can cut your home's exposure substantially. These four checklists are a good starting point.
Numbers reflect incidents reported by participating fire departments to the National Fire Incident Reporting System (NFIRS) Public Data Release for calendar year 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. Per-capita comparisons use 2023 ACS population estimates. Wildland fire data complements NFIRS with NIFC and USFS perimeters. Active-fire counts come from a dated NIFC snapshot, not a live feed.