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2025 Annual Fire Report

Fires in Boardman, Oregon

In 2025, fire departments serving Boardman responded to 116 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $1.0M building blaze. Here's the full picture.

Updated Sep 27, 2026 Grade C+ Peak yr 2025 Morrow County 3,830 residents 0 reporting departments 477 5-yr
Total incidents
116
+12.6% vs 2024
Building fires
9
Residential 67% Other 33%
Property loss
$3.6M
$2.9M structure · $691K contents
Deaths & injuries
0 / 3
0 civilian deaths · 0 civ injuries · 3 firefighter injuries
01 The mix

What kinds of fires happen here?

Grass fire lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 59% of all calls.

116
Total Incidents
Grass fire 19 16.4%
Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire 15 12.9%
Natural vegetation fire, other 13 11.2%
Unauthorized burning 12 10.3%
Passenger vehicle fire 10 8.6%
All other categories 47 40.5%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen?

Jul peaks. Apr dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.

Jan 7
Feb 5
Mar 6
Apr 4
May 7
Jun 9
Jul 40
Aug 11
Sep 6
Oct 10
Nov 5
Dec 6
Fewer
More
2b Five-year trend

Year over year in Boardman

477 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $4.0M cumulative property loss.

YearIncidentsYoY 
2021 67 —
2022 84 +25.4%
2023 107 +27.4%
2024 103 -3.7%
2025 116 +12.6%
03 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 9 building fires Boardman departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.

Unintentional
35%
17
Cause undetermined
4%
2
Intentional / arson
12%
6
Equipment / heat source failure
12%
6
Under investigation
8%
4
Act of nature (lightning)
29%
1
3b Where fires start

Where do fires start in Boardman?

NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 223 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 originCountShare 
1 Open area - outside; included are farmland, field 54 24.2%
2 Outside area, other 36 16.1%
3 Engine area, running gear, wheel area 32 14.3%
4 Undetermined 22 9.9%
5 Highway, parking lot, street: on or near 13 5.8%
6 Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste 9 4.0%
7 Cooking area, kitchen 7 3.1%
8 Other 5 2.2%
9 Cargo/trunk area - all vehicles 5 2.2%
10 Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. 4 1.8%
11 All other areas 36 16.1%
3c What ignited it

What actually ignited the fire?

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 Boardman mix.

#Heat sourceCountShare 
1 Undetermined 96 43.0%
2 Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment 18 8.1%
3 Hot ember or ash 14 6.3%
4 Arcing 11 4.9%
5 Heat source: other 10 4.5%
6 Heat from powered equipment, other 10 4.5%
7 Hot or smoldering object, other 8 3.6%
8 Fireworks 7 3.1%
9 Flame/torch used for lighting 6 2.7%
10 Radiated heat from another fire 6 2.7%
11 All other sources 37 16.6%
04 The biggest fires

8 fires · $2.8M in losses

Largest single-incident property losses reported by Boardman departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 94% of the city's annual total.

# Property loss Type Severity Status
1 $1,000,000 Building fires Major Investigated
2 $400,000 Building fires Major Investigated
3 $338,500 Building fires Major Investigated
4 $300,000 Building fires Major Investigated
5 $295,000 Building fires Major Investigated
6 $280,000 Building fires Major Investigated
7 $75,000 Road freight or transport vehicle fire Significant Investigated
8 $75,000 Passenger vehicle fire Significant Investigated
05 How Boardman compares

Boardman vs Oregon vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Boardman sits above the national average for incidents per resident.

30.29
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Boardman
30.29
OR avg
8.47
US avg
7.48
2.35
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Boardman
2.35
OR avg
0.83
US avg
0.85
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
Boardman
0
OR avg
3.8
US avg
5.9
5b Who gets hurt

Casualty demographics in Boardman

5 fire-related casualties recorded in NFIRS Module 11 across the 2021–2025 window. Age, gender, and severity are coarse-binned — no individual identification possible.

AgeCount 
0-9 0
10-19 1
20-29 1
30-39 3
40-49 0
50-59 0
60-69 0
70-79 0
80+ 0
Civilian vs firefighter
Civilian 1 FF 4
Gender
M 3 F 2 Unk 0
Severity (1=minor → 5=fatal)
1
1
3
2
0
3
1
4
0
5
5c Wildfires nearby

Wildfires within 50 mi of Boardman

Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 564,990 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.

50 mi radius
YearCauseAcresDistance 
2008 Natural 78,000 12.7 mi
2007 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 72,641 48.9 mi
2009 Natural 48,902 46.4 mi
2000 Natural 46,802 37.2 mi
2015 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 33,103 30.8 mi
2016 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 31,848 39.1 mi
2017 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 30,648 49.5 mi
2007 Natural 20,947 20.0 mi
2000 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 19,650 35.5 mi
1998 Natural 18,500 36.7 mi
1992 Debris and open burning 17,627 44.8 mi
2018 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 12,765 22.5 mi
5d Top ZIPs

Where in Boardman do fires concentrate?

Top 4 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.

#ZIP5-yr incidents 
1 97818 472
2 97838 3
3 97839 1
4 97882 1
5e Peer cities

Cities similar to Boardman

Six Oregon cities with population within ±25% of Boardman. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.

07 Stay prepared

Before the next Red Flag day.

A 30-minute weekend can cut your home's exposure substantially. These four checklists are a good starting point.

About this data

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.