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In 2025, fire departments serving Heppner responded to 26 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $250K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Grass fire lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 81% of all calls.
Jul peaks. May dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
135 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2021. $1.1M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 37 | — | |
| 2022 | 23 | -37.8% | |
| 2023 | 22 | -4.3% | |
| 2024 | 27 | +22.7% | |
| 2025 | 26 | -3.7% |
For the 1 building fires Heppner departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 69 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 | 33 | 47.8% | |
| 2 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 8 | 11.6% | |
| 3 | Undetermined | 4 | 5.8% | |
| 4 | Cooking area, kitchen | 2 | 2.9% | |
| 5 | Heating room or area, water heater area | 2 | 2.9% | |
| 6 | Wall surface: exterior | 2 | 2.9% | |
| 7 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 2 | 2.9% | |
| 8 | Wildland, woods | 2 | 2.9% | |
| 9 | Other | 1 | 1.4% | |
| 10 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 1 | 1.4% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 12 | 17.4% |
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 Heppner mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Arcing | 12 | 17.4% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 9 | 13.0% | |
| 3 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 8 | 11.6% | |
| 4 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 8 | 11.6% | |
| 5 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 5 | 7.2% | |
| 6 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 4 | 5.8% | |
| 7 | Heat from undetermined smoking material | 4 | 5.8% | |
| 8 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 3 | 4.3% | |
| 9 | Radiated heat from another fire | 3 | 4.3% | |
| 10 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 2 | 2.9% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 11 | 15.9% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Heppner departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $250,000 | Grass fire | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $150,000 | Cultivated grain or crop fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $150,000 | Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $45,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $5,000 | Grass fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $4,500 | Grass fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $800 | Grass fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $500 | Fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Heppner sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 519,625 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | Natural | 78,000 | 23.6 mi | |
| 2018 | Natural | 54,221 | 40.5 mi | |
| 2007 | Natural | 53,448 | 24.0 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 33,103 | 44.4 mi | |
| 2001 | Natural | 32,352 | 30.0 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 31,848 | 41.0 mi | |
| 2014 | Equipment and vehicle use | 25,937 | 39.4 mi | |
| 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 23,600 | 45.8 mi | |
| 1996 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 22,000 | 31.4 mi | |
| 2007 | Natural | 20,947 | 47.4 mi | |
| 2000 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 19,650 | 25.7 mi | |
| 1994 | Natural | 13,800 | 40.0 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 | 97836 | 135 |
Six Oregon cities with population within ±25% of Heppner. 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.