Senators Warn Federal Firefighting Budget Nearly Exhausted With Fire Season Not Over
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In 2025, fire departments serving Irrigon responded to 50 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $35K 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 56% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Jan dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
128 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $1.1M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 23 | — | |
| 2022 | 16 | -30.4% | |
| 2023 | 26 | +62.5% | |
| 2024* | 13 | — | |
| 2025 | 50 | — |
* Well below Irrigon'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 11 building fires Irrigon departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 41 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 | 15 | 36.6% | |
| 2 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 5 | 12.2% | |
| 3 | Cooking area, kitchen | 3 | 7.3% | |
| 4 | Outside area, other | 3 | 7.3% | |
| 5 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 2 | 4.9% | |
| 6 | Computer room, control room or center | 2 | 4.9% | |
| 7 | Storage room, area, tank, or bin | 2 | 4.9% | |
| 8 | Heating room or area, water heater area | 2 | 4.9% | |
| 9 | Other | 1 | 2.4% | |
| 10 | Storage area, other | 1 | 2.4% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 5 | 12.2% |
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 Irrigon mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 26 | 63.4% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 3 | 7.3% | |
| 3 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 3 | 7.3% | |
| 4 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 2 | 4.9% | |
| 5 | Radiated heat from another fire | 2 | 4.9% | |
| 6 | Arcing | 1 | 2.4% | |
| 7 | Hot ember or ash | 1 | 2.4% | |
| 8 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 1 | 2.4% | |
| 9 | Chemical reaction | 1 | 2.4% | |
| 10 | Flying brand, ember, spark | 1 | 2.4% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Irrigon departments in 2025. These 2 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $35,000 | Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $7,000 | Camper or recreational vehicle (RV) fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Irrigon sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 747,195 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | Equipment and vehicle use | 163,884 | 48.7 mi | |
| 2008 | Natural | 78,000 | 21.0 mi | |
| 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 72,641 | 47.9 mi | |
| 2009 | Natural | 48,902 | 46.5 mi | |
| 2000 | Natural | 46,802 | 44.9 mi | |
| 2019 | Recreation and ceremony | 41,748 | 48.3 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 33,103 | 41.4 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 31,848 | 49.6 mi | |
| 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 30,648 | 48.5 mi | |
| 2007 | Natural | 20,947 | 28.9 mi | |
| 2000 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 19,650 | 44.6 mi | |
| 1998 | Natural | 18,500 | 45.7 mi |
Top 3 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 Irrigon. 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.