Senators Warn Federal Firefighting Budget Nearly Exhausted With Fire Season Not Over
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In 2025, fire departments serving Dexter responded to 34 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $40K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Fires in structures other than in a building lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 59% of all calls.
May peaks. Jan dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
154 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $110K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 21 | — | |
| 2022 | 34 | +61.9% | |
| 2023 | 28 | -17.6% | |
| 2024 | 37 | +32.1% | |
| 2025 | 34 | -8.1% |
For the 4 building fires Dexter departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 51 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 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 11 | 21.6% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 10 | 19.6% | |
| 3 | Undetermined | 10 | 19.6% | |
| 4 | Other | 3 | 5.9% | |
| 5 | Wildland, woods | 3 | 5.9% | |
| 6 | Cooking area, kitchen | 2 | 3.9% | |
| 7 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 1 | 2.0% | |
| 8 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 1 | 2.0% | |
| 9 | Storage: supplies or tools; dead storage | 1 | 2.0% | |
| 10 | Duct: hvac, cable, exhaust, heating, or AC | 1 | 2.0% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 8 | 15.7% |
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 Dexter mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 10 | 19.6% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 5 | 9.8% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 5 | 9.8% | |
| 4 | Heat source: other | 3 | 5.9% | |
| 5 | Hot ember or ash | 3 | 5.9% | |
| 6 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 3 | 5.9% | |
| 7 | Radiated heat from another fire | 3 | 5.9% | |
| 8 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 2 | 3.9% | |
| 9 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 2 | 3.9% | |
| 10 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 2 | 3.9% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 13 | 25.5% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Dexter departments in 2025. These 6 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $40,000 | Fires in structures other than in a building | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $35,000 | Camper or recreational vehicle (RV) fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $8,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $3,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $1,000 | Outside equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $500 | Outside equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Dexter sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 544,695 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 | 173,393 | 34.2 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 131,542 | 40.4 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 48,000 | 41.7 mi | |
| 2017 | Natural | 31,449 | 43.5 mi | |
| 2008 | Natural | 19,775 | 43.0 mi | |
| 2017 | Natural | 18,086 | 47.1 mi | |
| 2002 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 17,600 | 44.4 mi | |
| 2009 | Natural | 14,560 | 47.3 mi | |
| 2018 | Smoking | 11,555 | 31.2 mi | |
| 1996 | Natural | 10,400 | 40.1 mi | |
| 2017 | Natural | 10,114 | 13.9 mi | |
| 2017 | Smoking | 8,709 | 33.0 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 | 97431 | 154 |
Six Oregon cities with population within ±25% of Dexter. 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.