Senators Warn Federal Firefighting Budget Nearly Exhausted With Fire Season Not Over
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In 2025, fire departments serving La Grande responded to 176 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $275K 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 56% of all calls.
Jul peaks. Mar dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
781 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $2.6M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 127 | — | |
| 2022 | 167 | +31.5% | |
| 2023 | 146 | -12.6% | |
| 2024 | 165 | +13.0% | |
| 2025 | 176 | +6.7% |
For the 23 building fires La Grande departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 287 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 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 50 | 17.4% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 45 | 15.7% | |
| 3 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 45 | 15.7% | |
| 4 | Cooking area, kitchen | 20 | 7.0% | |
| 5 | Railroad right of way: on or near | 11 | 3.8% | |
| 6 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 11 | 3.8% | |
| 7 | Other | 8 | 2.8% | |
| 8 | Vehicle area, other | 8 | 2.8% | |
| 9 | Cargo/trunk area - all vehicles | 8 | 2.8% | |
| 10 | Undetermined | 7 | 2.4% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 74 | 25.8% |
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 La Grande mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 102 | 35.5% | |
| 2 | Heat source: other | 40 | 13.9% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 16 | 5.6% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 15 | 5.2% | |
| 5 | Hot ember or ash | 14 | 4.9% | |
| 6 | Chemical reaction | 14 | 4.9% | |
| 7 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 12 | 4.2% | |
| 8 | Heat, spark from friction | 12 | 4.2% | |
| 9 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 10 | 3.5% | |
| 10 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 9 | 3.1% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 43 | 15.0% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by La Grande departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 93% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $275,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $200,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $72,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $65,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $40,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $35,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. La Grande sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 214,829 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | Natural | 50,633 | 29.0 mi | |
| 1996 | Natural | 37,835 | 46.5 mi | |
| 2015 | Natural | 12,716 | 39.3 mi | |
| 2006 | Natural | 11,615 | 48.7 mi | |
| 1994 | Natural | 11,081 | 29.3 mi | |
| 1996 | Natural | 10,137 | 31.0 mi | |
| 2001 | Natural | 9,230 | 45.8 mi | |
| 1996 | Natural | 8,332 | 42.9 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 8,212 | 45.7 mi | |
| 2009 | Natural | 6,900 | 39.0 mi | |
| 2019 | Natural | 5,555 | 33.6 mi | |
| 2006 | Natural | 5,394 | 48.1 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 | 97850 | 781 |
Six Oregon cities with population within ±25% of La Grande. 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.