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In 2025, fire departments serving Madras responded to 189 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $1.5M 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 75% of all calls.
Jun peaks. Jan dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
835 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $4.0M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 157 | — | |
| 2022 | 152 | -3.2% | |
| 2023 | 148 | -2.6% | |
| 2024 | 189 | +27.7% | |
| 2025 | 189 | +0.0% |
For the 10 building fires Madras departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 332 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 | 69 | 20.8% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 60 | 18.1% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 41 | 12.3% | |
| 4 | Undetermined | 39 | 11.7% | |
| 5 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 23 | 6.9% | |
| 6 | Cooking area, kitchen | 18 | 5.4% | |
| 7 | Other | 14 | 4.2% | |
| 8 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 9 | 2.7% | |
| 9 | Courtyard, patio, porch, terrace | 6 | 1.8% | |
| 10 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 5 | 1.5% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 48 | 14.5% |
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 Madras mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 157 | 47.3% | |
| 2 | Hot ember or ash | 18 | 5.4% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 17 | 5.1% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 16 | 4.8% | |
| 5 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 16 | 4.8% | |
| 6 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 16 | 4.8% | |
| 7 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 16 | 4.8% | |
| 8 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 11 | 3.3% | |
| 9 | Heat source: other | 10 | 3.0% | |
| 10 | Fireworks | 6 | 1.8% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 49 | 14.8% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Madras departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 98% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $1,500,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $162,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $40,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $20,000 | Fire in mobile home used as fixed residence | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $20,000 | Fire in mobile home used as fixed residence | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $15,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $8,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $8,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Madras sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 1,195,209 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | Natural | 204,469 | 27.0 mi | |
| 1996 | Equipment and vehicle use | 118,230 | 25.4 mi | |
| 2018 | Natural | 100,226 | 35.5 mi | |
| 2003 | Natural | 79,734 | 37.1 mi | |
| 2017 | Equipment and vehicle use | 68,135 | 31.2 mi | |
| 2015 | Equipment and vehicle use | 66,613 | 17.1 mi | |
| 2013 | Arson/incendiarism | 53,000 | 12.6 mi | |
| 2011 | Natural | 51,384 | 27.0 mi | |
| 2014 | Natural | 50,900 | 24.4 mi | |
| 2018 | Natural | 45,973 | 46.1 mi | |
| 2014 | Natural | 35,724 | 33.7 mi | |
| 1994 | Other causes | 33,490 | 16.7 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 Madras. 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.