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2025 County Report

Fires in Deschutes County, OR

In 2025, fire departments serving Deschutes County responded to 1,785 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $750K property loss. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as Very High.

156,576 residents FIPS 41017 23 cities · 0 fire depts
Total incidents
1,785
7,650 across 5 years
Building fires
144
291 wildland
Property loss
$7.9M
$5.6M structure · $2.2M contents
Casualties
1 / 34
1 civ deaths · 0 civ inj · 34 FF inj
01 The mix

What kinds of fires happen here?

Unauthorized burning lead by count. Top five categories make up about 59% of all calls.

1,785
Total Incidents
Unauthorized burning 373 20.9%
Authorized controlled burning 235 13.2%
Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire 153 8.6%
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) 151 8.5%
Building fires 144 8.1%
All other categories 729 40.8%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in Deschutes County?

Jun peaks. Feb dips.

Jan 106
Feb 84
Mar 123
Apr 148
May 187
Jun 222
Jul 204
Aug 150
Sep 127
Oct 169
Nov 144
Dec 121
03 Five-year trend

Year over year in Deschutes County

7,650 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 1,311
2022 1,388
2023 1,559
2024 1,607
2025 1,785
04 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 144 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional
49%
256
Cause undetermined
14%
75
Intentional / arson
13%
70
Equipment / heat source failure
8%
40
Under investigation
6%
29
Act of nature (lightning)
10%
21
05 The biggest fires

10 fires · $2.9M in losses

Largest single-incident property losses in Deschutes County during 2025. These 10 fires alone account for 52% of the county's total.

#Property lossCityTypeSeverity
1 $750,000 Bend Building fires Major
2 $300,000 Bend Building fires Major
3 $300,000 Redmond Building fires Major
4 $253,635 Redmond Building fires Major
5 $250,000 Sisters Aircraft fire Major
6 $246,204 Bend Building fires Significant
7 $216,266 Redmond Building fires Significant
8 $200,000 Bend Building fires Significant
9 $200,000 Bend Building fires Significant
10 $200,000 Bend Building fires Significant
06 How Deschutes County compares

Deschutes County vs OR vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

11.4
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Deschutes County
11.4
OR avg
8.47
US avg
7.15
0.92
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Deschutes County
0.92
OR avg
0.83
US avg
0.82
6.4
Civilian fire deaths per million
Deschutes County
6.4
OR avg
3.8
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in Deschutes County

12 cities mapped to FIPS 41017.

09 Historical wildfires

Largest fires recorded in OR

Top 10 fire perimeters by acres burned (state-scoped fallback while we build out per-county polygons).

#NameYearAgencyAcres
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

About this data

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.