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In 2025, fire departments serving Klamath Falls responded to 521 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $250K 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 49% of all calls.
Feb peaks. Mar dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
1,928 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $17.0M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 375 | — | |
| 2022 | 407 | +8.5% | |
| 2023 | 313 | -23.1% | |
| 2024 | 312 | -0.3% | |
| 2025 | 521 | +67.0% |
For the 36 building fires Klamath Falls departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 731 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 | 152 | 20.8% | |
| 2 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 93 | 12.7% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 67 | 9.2% | |
| 4 | Undetermined | 59 | 8.1% | |
| 5 | Cooking area, kitchen | 42 | 5.7% | |
| 6 | Other | 37 | 5.1% | |
| 7 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 34 | 4.7% | |
| 8 | Vehicle area, other | 27 | 3.7% | |
| 9 | Wildland, woods | 19 | 2.6% | |
| 10 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 16 | 2.2% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 185 | 25.3% |
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 Klamath Falls mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 321 | 43.9% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 38 | 5.2% | |
| 3 | Heat source: other | 37 | 5.1% | |
| 4 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 35 | 4.8% | |
| 5 | Cigarette lighter | 32 | 4.4% | |
| 6 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 29 | 4.0% | |
| 7 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 26 | 3.6% | |
| 8 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 25 | 3.4% | |
| 9 | Hot ember or ash | 25 | 3.4% | |
| 10 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 25 | 3.4% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 138 | 18.9% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Klamath Falls departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 61% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $250,000 | Building or structure weakened or collapsed | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $250,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 3 | $150,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $125,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $85,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $80,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Klamath Falls sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 409,895 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | Natural | 82,018 | 39.1 mi | |
| 2017 | Natural | 45,690 | 47.6 mi | |
| 2018 | Debris and open burning | 38,008 | 45.7 mi | |
| 2014 | Natural | 35,129 | 31.5 mi | |
| 2017 | Natural | 33,344 | 48.6 mi | |
| 1992 | Misuse of fire by a minor | 30,809 | 26.5 mi | |
| 2008 | Natural | 21,125 | 42.3 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 14,787 | 49.4 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 14,473 | 30.4 mi | |
| 2019 | Equipment and vehicle use | 14,217 | 43.7 mi | |
| 1992 | Natural | 10,706 | 41.4 mi | |
| 2003 | Natural | 9,940 | 39.7 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 Klamath Falls. 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.