Senators Warn Federal Firefighting Budget Nearly Exhausted With Fire Season Not Over
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In 2025, fire departments serving Shady Cove responded to 24 fire and hazmat incidents . Here's the full picture.
Unauthorized burning lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 67% of all calls.
Apr peaks. Jun dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
138 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 19 | — | |
| 2022 | 29 | +52.6% | |
| 2023 | 28 | -3.4% | |
| 2024 | 38 | +35.7% | |
| 2025 | 24 | -36.8% |
For the 2 building fires Shady Cove departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 36 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 | Cooking area, kitchen | 8 | 22.2% | |
| 2 | Wall surface: exterior | 3 | 8.3% | |
| 3 | Exterior, exposed surface | 3 | 8.3% | |
| 4 | Outside area, other | 3 | 8.3% | |
| 5 | Wildland, woods | 3 | 8.3% | |
| 6 | Courtyard, patio, porch, terrace | 2 | 5.6% | |
| 7 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 2 | 5.6% | |
| 8 | Other | 1 | 2.8% | |
| 9 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 1 | 2.8% | |
| 10 | Swimming pool | 1 | 2.8% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 9 | 25.0% |
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 Shady Cove mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 12 | 33.3% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 4 | 11.1% | |
| 3 | Heat source: other | 3 | 8.3% | |
| 4 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 3 | 8.3% | |
| 5 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 2 | 5.6% | |
| 6 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 2 | 5.6% | |
| 7 | Match | 2 | 5.6% | |
| 8 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 2.8% | |
| 9 | Molten, hot material | 1 | 2.8% | |
| 10 | Hot ember or ash | 1 | 2.8% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 5 | 13.9% |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Shady Cove sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 766,534 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 131,542 | 49.9 mi | |
| 2018 | Natural | 52,839 | 39.5 mi | |
| 2002 | Natural | 48,079 | 33.8 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 48,000 | 48.8 mi | |
| 2014 | Natural | 35,129 | 45.8 mi | |
| 2017 | Natural | 33,344 | 28.4 mi | |
| 2017 | Natural | 32,846 | 47.6 mi | |
| 2014 | Natural | 32,496 | 47.6 mi | |
| 2017 | Natural | 31,449 | 49.0 mi | |
| 2017 | Natural | 29,454 | 44.9 mi | |
| 2002 | Natural | 27,350 | 15.1 mi | |
| 2013 | Natural | 26,725 | 48.0 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 Shady Cove. 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.