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In 2025, fire departments serving Williams responded to 40 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $100K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Authorized controlled burning lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 60% of all calls.
May peaks. Jan dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
195 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $100K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 29 | — | |
| 2022 | 52 | +79.3% | |
| 2023 | 27 | -48.1% | |
| 2024 | 47 | +74.1% | |
| 2025 | 40 | -14.9% |
For the 4 building fires Williams departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 64 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 | 20 | 31.2% | |
| 2 | Wildland, woods | 6 | 9.4% | |
| 3 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 5 | 7.8% | |
| 4 | Cooking area, kitchen | 3 | 4.7% | |
| 5 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 3 | 4.7% | |
| 6 | Exterior, exposed surface | 3 | 4.7% | |
| 7 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 3 | 4.7% | |
| 8 | Undetermined | 3 | 4.7% | |
| 9 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 2 | 3.1% | |
| 10 | Function area, other | 2 | 3.1% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 14 | 21.9% |
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 Williams mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 11 | 17.2% | |
| 2 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 6 | 9.4% | |
| 3 | Hot ember or ash | 6 | 9.4% | |
| 4 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 6 | 9.4% | |
| 5 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 5 | 7.8% | |
| 6 | Match | 4 | 6.2% | |
| 7 | Radiated heat from another fire | 4 | 6.2% | |
| 8 | Heat source: other | 3 | 4.7% | |
| 9 | Arcing | 3 | 4.7% | |
| 10 | Heat from undetermined smoking material | 3 | 4.7% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 13 | 20.3% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Williams departments in 2025. These 1 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Williams sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 1,673,370 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | Natural | 499,945 | 34.1 mi | |
| 2017 | Natural | 191,125 | 34.2 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 157,270 | 25.2 mi | |
| 2014 | Natural | 115,279 | 31.1 mi | |
| 2018 | Natural | 87,701 | 30.8 mi | |
| 2008 | Natural | 65,834 | 47.9 mi | |
| 2018 | Natural | 52,839 | 24.9 mi | |
| 2017 | Natural | 45,403 | 31.4 mi | |
| 2008 | Natural | 44,452 | 43.9 mi | |
| 2018 | Natural | 38,134 | 22.5 mi | |
| 2018 | Debris and open burning | 38,008 | 45.1 mi | |
| 2014 | Natural | 35,129 | 50.0 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 | 97544 | 195 |
Six Oregon cities with population within ±25% of Williams. 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.