In 2025, fire departments serving Columbia County responded to 158 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $90K property loss.
Unauthorized burning lead by count. Top five categories make up about 58% of all calls.
Jun peaks. Jan dips.
1,755 incidents from 2021 through 2025.
| Year | Incidents | |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 540 | |
| 2022 | 534 | |
| 2023 | 439 | |
| 2024 | 84 | |
| 2025 | 158 |
For the 11 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.
Largest single-incident property losses in Columbia County during 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 100% of the county's total.
| # | Property loss | City | Type | Severity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $90,000 | Clatskanie | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant |
| 2 | $55,000 | Clatskanie | Water vehicle fire | Significant |
| 3 | $45,000 | Clatskanie | Building fires | Significant |
| 4 | $30,000 | Clatskanie | Fires in structures other than in a building | Significant |
| 5 | $4,500 | Warren | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant |
| 6 | $2,000 | Clatskanie | Outside equipment fire | Significant |
| 7 | $200 | Vernonia | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant |
| 8 | $20 | Saint Helens | Outside storage fire | Significant |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.
12 cities mapped to FIPS 41009.
| City | Population | |
|---|---|---|
| St. Helens | 14,015 | View › |
| Scappoose | 8,003 | View › |
| Vernonia | 2,285 | View › |
| Rainier | 2,010 | View › |
| Clatskanie | 1,975 | View › |
| Columbia City | 1,773 | View › |
| Warren | 1,608 | View › |
| Deer Island | 230 | View › |
| Prescott | 60 | View › |
| Kerry | 0 | View › |
| Clatskanie Heights | 0 | View › |
| Chapman | 0 | View › |
Top 10 fire perimeters by acres burned (state-scoped fallback while we build out per-county polygons).
| # | Name | Year | Agency | Acres |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bootleg | 2021 | USFS | 413,715 |
| 2 | Saddle Draw | 2014 | BLM | 280,310 |
| 3 | LIONSHEAD | 2020 | BIA | 198,346 |
| 4 | Beachie Creek | 2020 | USFS | 193,565 |
| 5 | Chetco Bar | 2017 | BLM | 190,524 |
| 6 | Monkey Creek | 2024 | BLM | 178,541 |
| 7 | RAIL RIDGE | 2024 | BLM | 176,660 |
| 8 | Double Creek | 2022 | USFS | 175,937 |
| 9 | Klondike | 2018 | BLM | 173,614 |
| 10 | Holiday Farm | 2020 | USFS | 173,392 |
County-level NFIRS aggregates for 2025, plus 5-year totals across 2021–2025. NFIRS is voluntary — about 23,000 of roughly 30,000 US fire departments report — so totals are a strong indicator, not a complete census. Wildfire risk score (0–100) and Expected Annual Loss come from FEMA's National Risk Index. Drought class is the most recent USDM classification (D0 = abnormally dry through D4 = exceptional drought). Historical fire perimeters are sourced from the NIFC InterAgency Fire Perimeter History.