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2025 Annual Fire Report

Fires in Clatskanie, Oregon

In 2025, fire departments serving Clatskanie responded to 30 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $90K building blaze. Here's the full picture.

Updated Sep 27, 2026 Grade C+ Peak yr 2022 Columbia County 1,975 residents 0 reporting departments 228 5-yr
Total incidents
30
Not comparable with 2024 (incomplete reporting)
Building fires
3
Residential 67% Other 33%
Property loss
$273K
$222K structure · $51K contents
Deaths & injuries
0 / 0
0 civilian deaths · 0 civ injuries · 0 firefighter injuries
01 The mix

What kinds of fires happen here?

Unauthorized burning lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 50% of all calls.

30
Total Incidents
Unauthorized burning 4 13.3%
Building fires 3 10.0%
Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire 3 10.0%
Authorized controlled burning 3 10.0%
Power line down 2 6.7%
All other categories 15 50.0%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen?

Jun peaks. Jan dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.

Jan 0
Feb 2
Mar 1
Apr 4
May 2
Jun 8
Jul 2
Aug 1
Sep 4
Oct 1
Nov 1
Dec 4
Fewer
More
2b Five-year trend

Year over year in Clatskanie

228 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $763K cumulative property loss.

YearIncidentsYoY 
2021 58 —
2022 64 +10.3%
2023 54 -15.6%
2024* 22 —
2025 30 —

* Well below Clatskanie'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.

03 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 3 building fires Clatskanie departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.

Unintentional
42%
5
Cause undetermined
33%
4
Intentional / arson
0%
0
Equipment / heat source failure
17%
2
Under investigation
8%
1
Act of nature (lightning)
0%
0
3b Where fires start

Where do fires start in Clatskanie?

NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 60 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 Undetermined 13 21.7%
2 Other 9 15.0%
3 Engine area, running gear, wheel area 8 13.3%
4 Outside area, other 7 11.7%
5 Vehicle area, other 3 5.0%
6 Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison 2 3.3%
7 Cooking area, kitchen 2 3.3%
8 Bathroom, checkroom, lavatory, locker room 2 3.3%
9 Highway, parking lot, street: on or near 2 3.3%
10 Wildland, woods 2 3.3%
11 All other areas 10 16.7%
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 Clatskanie mix.

#Heat sourceCountShare 
1 Undetermined 24 40.0%
2 Arcing 7 11.7%
3 Heat source: other 6 10.0%
4 Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment 4 6.7%
5 Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment 4 6.7%
6 Hot or smoldering object, other 3 5.0%
7 Heat from powered equipment, other 2 3.3%
8 Hot ember or ash 2 3.3%
9 Heat, spark from friction 1 1.7%
10 Cigarette 1 1.7%
11 All other sources 6 10.0%
04 The biggest fires

5 fires · $222K in losses

Largest single-incident property losses reported by Clatskanie departments in 2025. These 5 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.

# Property loss Type Severity Status
1 $90,000 Road freight or transport vehicle fire Significant Investigated
2 $55,000 Water vehicle fire Significant Investigated
3 $45,000 Building fires Significant Investigated
4 $30,000 Fires in structures other than in a building Significant Investigated
5 $2,000 Outside equipment fire Significant Investigated
05 How Clatskanie compares

Clatskanie vs Oregon vs the nation

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

15.19
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Clatskanie
15.19
OR avg
8.47
US avg
7.48
1.52
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Clatskanie
1.52
OR avg
0.83
US avg
0.85
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
Clatskanie
0
OR avg
3.8
US avg
5.9
5c Wildfires nearby

Wildfires within 50 mi of Clatskanie

Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 10,228 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.

50 mi radius
YearCauseAcresDistance 
2001 Natural 7,500 47.5 mi
2014 Debris and open burning 254 41.3 mi
2014 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 211 39.7 mi
2015 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 175 40.3 mi
2020 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 166 39.2 mi
2014 Debris and open burning 143 40.5 mi
2014 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 127 30.2 mi
2020 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 126 44.1 mi
2013 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 119 36.4 mi
2015 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 110 31.3 mi
2010 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 108 35.0 mi
2006 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 106 35.3 mi
5d Top ZIPs

Where in Clatskanie do fires concentrate?

Top 2 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 97016 224
2 97048 4
5e Peer cities

Cities similar to Clatskanie

Six Oregon cities with population within ±25% of Clatskanie. 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.