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In 2025, fire departments serving Winston responded to 84 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $20K 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 74% of all calls.
Dec peaks. Jun dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
486 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $272K cumulative property loss. 2 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 107 | — | |
| 2022 | 113 | +5.6% | |
| 2023 | 103 | -8.8% | |
| 2024 | 79 | -23.3% | |
| 2025 | 84 | +6.3% |
For the 9 building fires Winston departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 153 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 | 47 | 30.7% | |
| 2 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 25 | 16.3% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 11 | 7.2% | |
| 4 | Undetermined | 11 | 7.2% | |
| 5 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 7 | 4.6% | |
| 6 | Wildland, woods | 7 | 4.6% | |
| 7 | Other | 5 | 3.3% | |
| 8 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 5 | 3.3% | |
| 9 | Cooking area, kitchen | 4 | 2.6% | |
| 10 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 4 | 2.6% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 27 | 17.6% |
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 Winston mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 46 | 30.1% | |
| 2 | Heat source: other | 25 | 16.3% | |
| 3 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 15 | 9.8% | |
| 4 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 12 | 7.8% | |
| 5 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 9 | 5.9% | |
| 6 | Arcing | 6 | 3.9% | |
| 7 | Heat from undetermined smoking material | 6 | 3.9% | |
| 8 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 5 | 3.3% | |
| 9 | Cigarette | 5 | 3.3% | |
| 10 | Match | 4 | 2.6% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 20 | 13.1% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Winston departments in 2025. These 1 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $20,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Winston sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 643,152 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 | 35.3 mi | |
| 2018 | Natural | 52,839 | 43.0 mi | |
| 2002 | Natural | 48,079 | 34.7 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 48,000 | 30.4 mi | |
| 2017 | Natural | 31,449 | 42.4 mi | |
| 2002 | Natural | 27,350 | 40.3 mi | |
| 2013 | Natural | 26,725 | 38.9 mi | |
| 2015 | Equipment and vehicle use | 26,452 | 23.4 mi | |
| 2008 | Natural | 19,775 | 46.6 mi | |
| 2017 | Natural | 19,188 | 45.7 mi | |
| 2018 | Natural | 17,697 | 41.1 mi | |
| 2002 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 17,600 | 39.0 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 Winston. 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.