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In 2025, fire departments serving Depoe Bay responded to 17 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $10K 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 77% of all calls.
Apr peaks. Jan dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
108 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $484K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 22 | — | |
| 2022 | 32 | +45.5% | |
| 2023 | 21 | -34.4% | |
| 2024 | 16 | -23.8% | |
| 2025 | 17 | +6.2% |
For the 0 building fires Depoe Bay departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 27 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 | Cooking area, kitchen | 5 | 18.5% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 4 | 14.8% | |
| 3 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 3 | 11.1% | |
| 4 | Other | 2 | 7.4% | |
| 5 | Exterior stairway, ramp, or fire escape | 1 | 3.7% | |
| 6 | Office | 1 | 3.7% | |
| 7 | Processing/manufacturing area, workroom | 1 | 3.7% | |
| 8 | Storage area, other | 1 | 3.7% | |
| 9 | Conduit, pipe, utility, or ventilation shaft | 1 | 3.7% | |
| 10 | Maintenance shop or area, paint shop or area | 1 | 3.7% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 7 | 25.9% |
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 Depoe Bay mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Arcing | 4 | 14.8% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 4 | 14.8% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 3 | 11.1% | |
| 4 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 3 | 11.1% | |
| 5 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 2 | 7.4% | |
| 6 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 2 | 7.4% | |
| 7 | Heat source: other | 1 | 3.7% | |
| 8 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 3.7% | |
| 9 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 1 | 3.7% | |
| 10 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 1 | 3.7% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 5 | 18.5% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Depoe Bay departments in 2025. These 1 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $10,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Depoe Bay sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 5,325 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,552 | 16.2 mi | |
| 2003 | Debris and open burning | 376 | 27.0 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 281 | 18.5 mi | |
| 2015 | Recreation and ceremony | 215 | 39.2 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 202 | 2.4 mi | |
| 2017 | Debris and open burning | 140 | 17.5 mi | |
| 2015 | Debris and open burning | 135 | 46.3 mi | |
| 2005 | Debris and open burning | 130 | 10.7 mi | |
| 2002 | Natural | 117 | 41.2 mi | |
| 2007 | Debris and open burning | 110 | 17.4 mi | |
| 2019 | Equipment and vehicle use | 108 | 18.6 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 97 | 46.0 mi |
Top 1 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
| # | ZIP | 5-yr incidents | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 97341 | 108 |
Six Oregon cities with population within ±25% of Depoe Bay. 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.