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In 2025, fire departments serving Sutherlin responded to 111 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $40K 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 68% of all calls.
Jun peaks. Mar dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
545 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $496K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 94 | — | |
| 2022 | 100 | +6.4% | |
| 2023 | 121 | +21.0% | |
| 2024 | 119 | -1.7% | |
| 2025 | 111 | -6.7% |
For the 16 building fires Sutherlin departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 162 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 | 43 | 26.5% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 16 | 9.9% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 12 | 7.4% | |
| 4 | Cooking area, kitchen | 11 | 6.8% | |
| 5 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 8 | 4.9% | |
| 6 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 8 | 4.9% | |
| 7 | Other | 7 | 4.3% | |
| 8 | Vehicle area, other | 5 | 3.1% | |
| 9 | Wildland, woods | 5 | 3.1% | |
| 10 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 4 | 2.5% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 43 | 26.5% |
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 Sutherlin mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 56 | 34.6% | |
| 2 | Heat source: other | 16 | 9.9% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 13 | 8.0% | |
| 4 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 12 | 7.4% | |
| 5 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 7 | 4.3% | |
| 6 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 7 | 4.3% | |
| 7 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 6 | 3.7% | |
| 8 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 6 | 3.7% | |
| 9 | Cigarette | 5 | 3.1% | |
| 10 | Cigarette lighter | 5 | 3.1% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 29 | 17.9% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Sutherlin departments in 2025. These 2 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $40,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $500 | Fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Sutherlin sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
6 fire-related casualties recorded in NFIRS Module 11 across the 2021–2025 window. Age, gender, and severity are coarse-binned — no individual identification possible.
| Age | Count | |
|---|---|---|
| 0-9 | 1 | |
| 10-19 | 0 | |
| 20-29 | 3 | |
| 30-39 | 1 | |
| 40-49 | 0 | |
| 50-59 | 1 | |
| 60-69 | 0 | |
| 70-79 | 0 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 566,551 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 | 27.2 mi | |
| 2002 | Natural | 48,079 | 35.7 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 48,000 | 22.6 mi | |
| 2017 | Natural | 31,449 | 35.7 mi | |
| 2002 | Natural | 27,350 | 49.0 mi | |
| 2015 | Equipment and vehicle use | 26,452 | 35.1 mi | |
| 2008 | Natural | 19,775 | 39.4 mi | |
| 2017 | Natural | 19,188 | 49.5 mi | |
| 2018 | Natural | 17,697 | 48.9 mi | |
| 2002 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 17,600 | 33.0 mi | |
| 2013 | Natural | 17,524 | 39.0 mi | |
| 2018 | Natural | 16,679 | 46.8 mi |
Top 2 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 Sutherlin. 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.