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In 2025, fire departments serving Vernonia responded to 26 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $200 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 73% of all calls.
Jun peaks. Jan dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
189 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2021. $10K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 58 | — | |
| 2022 | 41 | -29.3% | |
| 2023 | 55 | +34.1% | |
| 2024* | 9 | — | |
| 2025 | 26 | — |
* Well below Vernonia'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 Vernonia departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 43 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 | 13 | 30.2% | |
| 2 | Bathroom, checkroom, lavatory, locker room | 4 | 9.3% | |
| 3 | Undetermined | 4 | 9.3% | |
| 4 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 3 | 7.0% | |
| 5 | Wildland, woods | 3 | 7.0% | |
| 6 | Other | 2 | 4.7% | |
| 7 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 2 | 4.7% | |
| 8 | Entrance way, lobby | 1 | 2.3% | |
| 9 | Function area, other | 1 | 2.3% | |
| 10 | Cooking area, kitchen | 1 | 2.3% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 9 | 20.9% |
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 Vernonia mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 18 | 41.9% | |
| 2 | Heat source: other | 9 | 20.9% | |
| 3 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 4 | 9.3% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 3 | 7.0% | |
| 5 | Incendiary device | 2 | 4.7% | |
| 6 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 2 | 4.7% | |
| 7 | Heat, spark from friction | 1 | 2.3% | |
| 8 | Hot ember or ash | 1 | 2.3% | |
| 9 | Candle | 1 | 2.3% | |
| 10 | Backfire from internal combustion engine | 1 | 2.3% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 1 | 2.3% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Vernonia departments in 2025. These 1 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $200 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Vernonia sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 10,674 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | Natural | 7,500 | 34.5 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 301 | 39.9 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 254 | 36.7 mi | |
| 2015 | Recreation and ceremony | 215 | 47.4 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 211 | 23.1 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 166 | 27.0 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 145 | 46.9 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 143 | 36.8 mi | |
| 2000 | Equipment and vehicle use | 130 | 44.0 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 127 | 46.8 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 126 | 27.3 mi | |
| 2013 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 119 | 45.9 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 | 97064 | 187 |
Six Oregon cities with population within ±25% of Vernonia. 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.