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In 2025, fire departments serving Gladstone responded to 55 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $156K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Building fires lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 60% of all calls.
Feb peaks. Oct dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
268 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $1.2M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 70 | — | |
| 2022 | 76 | +8.6% | |
| 2023 | 33 | -56.6% | |
| 2024 | 34 | +3.0% | |
| 2025 | 55 | +61.8% |
For the 10 building fires Gladstone departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 85 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 | Outside area, other | 21 | 24.7% | |
| 2 | Cooking area, kitchen | 10 | 11.8% | |
| 3 | Undetermined | 7 | 8.2% | |
| 4 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 5 | 5.9% | |
| 5 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 4 | 4.7% | |
| 6 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 4 | 4.7% | |
| 7 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 4 | 4.7% | |
| 8 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 3 | 3.5% | |
| 9 | Vehicle area, other | 3 | 3.5% | |
| 10 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 3 | 3.5% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 21 | 24.7% |
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 Gladstone mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 44 | 51.8% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 8 | 9.4% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 5 | 5.9% | |
| 4 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 4 | 4.7% | |
| 5 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 4 | 4.7% | |
| 6 | Cigarette | 4 | 4.7% | |
| 7 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 3 | 3.5% | |
| 8 | Chemical reaction | 3 | 3.5% | |
| 9 | Hot ember or ash | 2 | 2.4% | |
| 10 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 2 | 2.4% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 6 | 7.1% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Gladstone departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 99% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $156,139 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $75,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $70,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $50,000 | Camper or recreational vehicle (RV) fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $30,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $5,000 | Fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $5,000 | Camper or recreational vehicle (RV) fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $2,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Gladstone sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 464,133 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 | 193,573 | 43.8 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 138,054 | 34.8 mi | |
| 2017 | Fireworks | 48,488 | 37.4 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 24,995 | 47.7 mi | |
| 1992 | Smoking | 24,400 | 37.3 mi | |
| 2001 | Natural | 7,500 | 11.2 mi | |
| 2011 | Natural | 6,304 | 44.1 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 5,508 | 24.0 mi | |
| 2010 | Natural | 2,810 | 44.8 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,584 | 13.1 mi | |
| 2011 | Natural | 2,033 | 43.7 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,508 | 10.9 mi |
Top 4 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
Six Oregon cities with population within ±25% of Gladstone. 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.