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2025 County Report

Fires in Jefferson County, OR

In 2025, fire departments serving Jefferson County responded to 344 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $1.5M property loss. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as Very High.

17,818 residents FIPS 41031 18 cities · 0 fire depts
Total incidents
344
1,674 across 5 years
Building fires
25
108 wildland
Property loss
$3.4M
$2.1M structure · $1.3M contents
Casualties
0 / 1
0 civ deaths · 1 civ inj · 0 FF inj
01 The mix

What kinds of fires happen here?

Unauthorized burning lead by count. Top five categories make up about 72% of all calls.

344
Total Incidents
Unauthorized burning 73 21.2%
Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire 64 18.6%
Authorized controlled burning 58 16.9%
Forest, woods or wildland fire 28 8.1%
Building fires 25 7.3%
All other categories 96 27.9%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in Jefferson County?

Jul peaks. Feb dips.

Jan 15
Feb 12
Mar 19
Apr 17
May 30
Jun 52
Jul 71
Aug 35
Sep 22
Oct 25
Nov 24
Dec 22
03 Five-year trend

Year over year in Jefferson County

1,674 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 293
2022 321
2023 328
2024 388
2025 344
04 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 25 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional
30%
45
Cause undetermined
18%
27
Intentional / arson
15%
23
Equipment / heat source failure
4%
6
Under investigation
28%
42
Act of nature (lightning)
5%
7
05 The biggest fires

10 fires · $2.1M in losses

Largest single-incident property losses in Jefferson County during 2025. These 10 fires alone account for 98% of the county's total.

#Property lossCityTypeSeverity
1 $1,500,000 Madras Building fires Major
2 $300,000 Warm Springs Building fires Major
3 $162,000 Madras Building fires Significant
4 $40,000 Madras Building fires Significant
5 $20,000 KahNeeTa Resort Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire Significant
6 $20,000 Madras Fire in mobile home used as fixed residence Significant
7 $20,000 Madras Fire in mobile home used as fixed residence Significant
8 $15,000 Culver Road freight or transport vehicle fire Significant
9 $15,000 Madras Building fires Significant
10 $8,000 Madras Building fires Significant
06 How Jefferson County compares

Jefferson County vs OR vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

19.31
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Jefferson County
19.31
OR avg
8.47
US avg
7.15
1.4
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Jefferson County
1.4
OR avg
0.83
US avg
0.82
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
Jefferson County
0
OR avg
3.8
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in Jefferson County

12 cities mapped to FIPS 41031.

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.