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In 2025, fire departments serving Jacksonville responded to 95 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $2K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Forest, woods or wildland fire lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 61% of all calls.
Jul peaks. Jan dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
306 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $210K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 56 | — | |
| 2022 | 67 | +19.6% | |
| 2023 | 38 | -43.3% | |
| 2024 | 50 | +31.6% | |
| 2025 | 95 | +90.0% |
For the 6 building fires Jacksonville departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 77 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 | Wildland, woods | 14 | 18.2% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 11 | 14.3% | |
| 3 | Undetermined | 10 | 13.0% | |
| 4 | Cooking area, kitchen | 8 | 10.4% | |
| 5 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 5 | 6.5% | |
| 6 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 5 | 6.5% | |
| 7 | Other | 2 | 2.6% | |
| 8 | Wall surface: exterior | 2 | 2.6% | |
| 9 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 2 | 2.6% | |
| 10 | Courtyard, patio, porch, terrace | 2 | 2.6% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 16 | 20.8% |
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 Jacksonville mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 30 | 39.0% | |
| 2 | Lightning | 9 | 11.7% | |
| 3 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 8 | 10.4% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 6 | 7.8% | |
| 5 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 6 | 7.8% | |
| 6 | Hot ember or ash | 3 | 3.9% | |
| 7 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 3 | 3.9% | |
| 8 | Heat, spark from friction | 2 | 2.6% | |
| 9 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 2 | 2.6% | |
| 10 | Cigarette lighter | 2 | 2.6% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 6 | 7.8% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Jacksonville departments in 2025. These 4 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $2,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $500 | Cooking fire, confined to container | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $100 | Dumpster or other outside trash receptacle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $100 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Jacksonville sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 972,281 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 | 157,270 | 37.1 mi | |
| 2014 | Natural | 115,279 | 42.3 mi | |
| 2018 | Natural | 87,701 | 45.7 mi | |
| 2018 | Natural | 52,839 | 34.1 mi | |
| 2017 | Natural | 45,403 | 44.7 mi | |
| 2018 | Natural | 38,134 | 38.7 mi | |
| 2018 | Debris and open burning | 38,008 | 37.1 mi | |
| 2014 | Natural | 35,129 | 36.8 mi | |
| 2017 | Natural | 33,344 | 47.1 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 33,011 | 32.6 mi | |
| 2017 | Natural | 32,846 | 25.6 mi | |
| 2014 | Natural | 32,496 | 27.2 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 Jacksonville. 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.