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In 2025, fire departments serving Vale responded to 37 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $32K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Building fires lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 62% of all calls.
Apr peaks. May dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
189 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $111K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 36 | — | |
| 2022 | 29 | -19.4% | |
| 2023 | 31 | +6.9% | |
| 2024 | 56 | +80.6% | |
| 2025 | 37 | -33.9% |
For the 11 building fires Vale departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 126 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 | 52 | 41.3% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 23 | 18.3% | |
| 3 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 19 | 15.1% | |
| 4 | Cooking area, kitchen | 3 | 2.4% | |
| 5 | Attic: vacant, crawl space above top story, cupola | 3 | 2.4% | |
| 6 | Cargo/trunk area - all vehicles | 3 | 2.4% | |
| 7 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 3 | 2.4% | |
| 8 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 2 | 1.6% | |
| 9 | Bathroom, checkroom, lavatory, locker room | 2 | 1.6% | |
| 10 | Service facilities, other | 2 | 1.6% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 14 | 11.1% |
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 Vale mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 18 | 14.3% | |
| 2 | Match | 18 | 14.3% | |
| 3 | Undetermined | 18 | 14.3% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 15 | 11.9% | |
| 5 | Chemical reaction | 12 | 9.5% | |
| 6 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 9 | 7.1% | |
| 7 | Hot ember or ash | 9 | 7.1% | |
| 8 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 5 | 4.0% | |
| 9 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 3 | 2.4% | |
| 10 | Heat, spark from friction | 3 | 2.4% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 16 | 12.7% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Vale departments in 2025. These 2 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $32,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $8,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Vale sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 729,976 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | Natural | 79,914 | 15.1 mi | |
| 2015 | Natural | 56,331 | 48.2 mi | |
| 2006 | Natural | 54,350 | 47.6 mi | |
| 2015 | Natural | 49,100 | 41.1 mi | |
| 2020 | Equipment and vehicle use | 48,435 | 34.7 mi | |
| 2013 | Natural | 46,444 | 25.9 mi | |
| 2002 | Natural | 42,543 | 36.8 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 35,194 | 29.8 mi | |
| 2002 | Natural | 32,812 | 40.8 mi | |
| 1996 | Natural | 31,295 | 9.4 mi | |
| 2007 | Natural | 28,333 | 44.0 mi | |
| 2005 | Natural | 25,280 | 38.7 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 Vale. 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.