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In 2025, fire departments serving Gold Hill responded to 97 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $115K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Unauthorized burning lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 68% of all calls.
May peaks. Aug dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
367 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $542K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 80 | — | |
| 2022 | 67 | -16.2% | |
| 2023 | 52 | -22.4% | |
| 2024 | 71 | +36.5% | |
| 2025 | 97 | +36.6% |
For the 6 building fires Gold Hill departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 65 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 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 9 | 13.8% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 7 | 10.8% | |
| 3 | Vehicle area, other | 6 | 9.2% | |
| 4 | Other | 5 | 7.7% | |
| 5 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 5 | 7.7% | |
| 6 | Wildland, woods | 5 | 7.7% | |
| 7 | Cooking area, kitchen | 3 | 4.6% | |
| 8 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 3 | 4.6% | |
| 9 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 2 | 3.1% | |
| 10 | Wall surface: exterior | 2 | 3.1% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 18 | 27.7% |
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 Gold Hill mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Heat source: other | 18 | 27.7% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 14 | 21.5% | |
| 3 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 6 | 9.2% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 6 | 9.2% | |
| 5 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 5 | 7.7% | |
| 6 | Hot ember or ash | 5 | 7.7% | |
| 7 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 2 | 3.1% | |
| 8 | Multiple heat sources including multiple ignitions | 2 | 3.1% | |
| 9 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 1.5% | |
| 10 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 1 | 1.5% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 5 | 7.7% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Gold Hill departments in 2025. These 5 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $115,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $25,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $5,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $1,000 | Camper or recreational vehicle (RV) fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $1 | Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Gold Hill sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 1,181,577 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | Natural | 191,125 | 47.0 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 157,270 | 42.8 mi | |
| 2014 | Natural | 115,279 | 48.4 mi | |
| 2018 | Natural | 87,701 | 41.5 mi | |
| 2018 | Natural | 52,839 | 27.4 mi | |
| 2002 | Natural | 48,079 | 48.5 mi | |
| 2017 | Natural | 45,403 | 49.8 mi | |
| 2018 | Natural | 38,134 | 41.9 mi | |
| 2018 | Debris and open burning | 38,008 | 46.5 mi | |
| 2014 | Natural | 35,129 | 45.0 mi | |
| 2017 | Natural | 33,344 | 45.0 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 33,011 | 40.4 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 Gold Hill. 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.