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In 2025, fire departments serving North Bend responded to 95 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $200K 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 63% of all calls.
Jul peaks. Mar dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
558 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $2.4M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 100 | — | |
| 2022 | 119 | +19.0% | |
| 2023 | 149 | +25.2% | |
| 2024 | 95 | -36.2% | |
| 2025 | 95 | +0.0% |
For the 6 building fires North Bend departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 171 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 | 55 | 32.2% | |
| 2 | Wildland, woods | 19 | 11.1% | |
| 3 | Undetermined | 17 | 9.9% | |
| 4 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 11 | 6.4% | |
| 5 | Other | 9 | 5.3% | |
| 6 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 7 | 4.1% | |
| 7 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 7 | 4.1% | |
| 8 | Cooking area, kitchen | 6 | 3.5% | |
| 9 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 4 | 2.3% | |
| 10 | Function area, other | 3 | 1.8% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 33 | 19.3% |
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 North Bend mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 97 | 56.7% | |
| 2 | Heat source: other | 19 | 11.1% | |
| 3 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 12 | 7.0% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 7 | 4.1% | |
| 5 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 6 | 3.5% | |
| 6 | Cigarette | 6 | 3.5% | |
| 7 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 5 | 2.9% | |
| 8 | Cigarette lighter | 5 | 2.9% | |
| 9 | Hot ember or ash | 4 | 2.3% | |
| 10 | Incendiary device | 3 | 1.8% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 7 | 4.1% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by North Bend departments in 2025. These 7 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $200,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $200,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $22,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $20,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $15,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $100 | Cooking fire, confined to container | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. North Bend sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 38,750 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 16,436 | 45.6 mi | |
| 2005 | Natural | 14,772 | 49.6 mi | |
| 2015 | Equipment and vehicle use | 1,845 | 13.2 mi | |
| 2014 | Arson/incendiarism | 790 | 45.2 mi | |
| 1995 | Recreation and ceremony | 700 | 20.0 mi | |
| 2003 | Equipment and vehicle use | 650 | 45.0 mi | |
| 2002 | Recreation and ceremony | 518 | 49.4 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 380 | 15.5 mi | |
| 1993 | Debris and open burning | 365 | 49.5 mi | |
| 2020 | Equipment and vehicle use | 347 | 19.5 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 331 | 38.2 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 307 | 46.5 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 | 97459 | 558 |
Six Oregon cities with population within ±25% of North Bend. 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.