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In 2025, fire departments serving Metolius responded to 11 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $3K 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 100% of all calls.
Aug peaks. Mar dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
45 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $26K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 2 | — | |
| 2022 | 13 | — | |
| 2023 | 6 | -53.8% | |
| 2024 | 13 | +116.7% | |
| 2025 | 11 | -15.4% |
* Well below Metolius'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 2 building fires Metolius departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 7 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 | 2 | 28.6% | |
| 2 | Other | 1 | 14.3% | |
| 3 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 1 | 14.3% | |
| 4 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 1 | 14.3% | |
| 5 | Structural area, other | 1 | 14.3% | |
| 6 | Undetermined | 1 | 14.3% |
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 Metolius mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 2 | 28.6% | |
| 2 | Hot ember or ash | 1 | 14.3% | |
| 3 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 1 | 14.3% | |
| 4 | Cigarette | 1 | 14.3% | |
| 5 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 1 | 14.3% | |
| 6 | Radiated heat from another fire | 1 | 14.3% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Metolius departments in 2025. These 2 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $3,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $500 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Metolius sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 1,167,322 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 | 26.4 mi | |
| 1996 | Equipment and vehicle use | 118,230 | 28.7 mi | |
| 2018 | Natural | 100,226 | 39.9 mi | |
| 2003 | Natural | 79,734 | 34.0 mi | |
| 2017 | Equipment and vehicle use | 68,135 | 35.1 mi | |
| 2015 | Equipment and vehicle use | 66,613 | 19.4 mi | |
| 2013 | Arson/incendiarism | 53,000 | 16.1 mi | |
| 2011 | Natural | 51,384 | 31.4 mi | |
| 2014 | Natural | 50,900 | 28.3 mi | |
| 2014 | Natural | 35,724 | 37.9 mi | |
| 1994 | Other causes | 33,490 | 20.0 mi | |
| 2014 | Natural | 30,251 | 44.1 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 | 97741 | 45 |
Six Oregon cities with population within ±25% of Metolius. 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.