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In 2025, fire departments serving Florence responded to 77 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $60K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Fire, other lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 51% of all calls.
Dec peaks. Mar dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
590 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2021. $2.6M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 160 | — | |
| 2022 | 144 | -10.0% | |
| 2023 | 141 | -2.1% | |
| 2024* | 68 | — | |
| 2025 | 77 | — |
* Well below Florence'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 4 building fires Florence departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 147 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 | Undetermined | 21 | 14.3% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 18 | 12.2% | |
| 3 | Other | 15 | 10.2% | |
| 4 | Cooking area, kitchen | 13 | 8.8% | |
| 5 | Outside area, other | 12 | 8.2% | |
| 6 | Wildland, woods | 11 | 7.5% | |
| 7 | Vehicle area, other | 10 | 6.8% | |
| 8 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 5 | 3.4% | |
| 9 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 5 | 3.4% | |
| 10 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 4 | 2.7% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 33 | 22.4% |
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 Florence mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 52 | 35.4% | |
| 2 | Heat source: other | 22 | 15.0% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 10 | 6.8% | |
| 4 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 10 | 6.8% | |
| 5 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 9 | 6.1% | |
| 6 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 9 | 6.1% | |
| 7 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 4 | 2.7% | |
| 8 | Cigarette lighter | 4 | 2.7% | |
| 9 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 3 | 2.0% | |
| 10 | Match | 3 | 2.0% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 21 | 14.3% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Florence departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $60,000 | Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $25,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $10,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $5,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $5,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $1,200 | Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $1,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $500 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Florence sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 6,848 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | Equipment and vehicle use | 1,845 | 46.3 mi | |
| 2014 | Arson/incendiarism | 790 | 28.9 mi | |
| 1995 | Recreation and ceremony | 700 | 49.3 mi | |
| 2003 | Equipment and vehicle use | 650 | 15.2 mi | |
| 2002 | Recreation and ceremony | 518 | 23.4 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 307 | 12.8 mi | |
| 1999 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 243 | 22.2 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 191 | 37.6 mi | |
| 2015 | Equipment and vehicle use | 187 | 45.3 mi | |
| 2006 | Arson/incendiarism | 141 | 27.8 mi | |
| 2015 | Debris and open burning | 135 | 48.1 mi | |
| 2013 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 119 | 45.2 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 | 97439 | 590 |
Six Oregon cities with population within ±25% of Florence. 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.