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In 2025, fire departments serving Gresham responded to 556 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $934K 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 57% of all calls.
Jul peaks. Nov dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
2,990 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $11.2M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 497 | — | |
| 2022 | 584 | +17.5% | |
| 2023 | 565 | -3.3% | |
| 2024 | 788 | +39.5% | |
| 2025 | 556 | -29.4% |
For the 78 building fires Gresham departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 939 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 | 191 | 20.3% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 121 | 12.9% | |
| 3 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 79 | 8.4% | |
| 4 | Cooking area, kitchen | 69 | 7.3% | |
| 5 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 67 | 7.1% | |
| 6 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 56 | 6.0% | |
| 7 | Other | 31 | 3.3% | |
| 8 | Vehicle area, other | 30 | 3.2% | |
| 9 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 24 | 2.6% | |
| 10 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 23 | 2.4% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 248 | 26.4% |
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 Gresham mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 365 | 38.9% | |
| 2 | Heat source: other | 98 | 10.4% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 90 | 9.6% | |
| 4 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 64 | 6.8% | |
| 5 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 54 | 5.8% | |
| 6 | Cigarette lighter | 50 | 5.3% | |
| 7 | Cigarette | 44 | 4.7% | |
| 8 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 31 | 3.3% | |
| 9 | Hot ember or ash | 24 | 2.6% | |
| 10 | Arcing | 22 | 2.3% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 97 | 10.3% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Gresham departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 76% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $933,790 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $253,880 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 3 | $235,778 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $233,330 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $171,071 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $117,504 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $100,000 | Outside rubbish, trash or waste fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $75,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Gresham sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 486,874 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 | 48.6 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 138,054 | 36.3 mi | |
| 2017 | Fireworks | 48,488 | 27.5 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 24,995 | 36.8 mi | |
| 1992 | Smoking | 24,400 | 27.0 mi | |
| 2020 | Natural | 17,442 | 47.5 mi | |
| 2001 | Natural | 7,500 | 9.6 mi | |
| 2011 | Natural | 6,304 | 37.2 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 5,508 | 24.7 mi | |
| 2008 | Natural | 3,280 | 40.4 mi | |
| 2010 | Natural | 2,810 | 48.1 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,584 | 21.5 mi |
Top 8 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 Gresham. 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.