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2025 County Report

Fires in Morrow County, OR

In 2025, fire departments serving Morrow County responded to 217 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $1.0M property loss. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as Very High.

7,554 residents FIPS 41049 20 cities · 0 fire depts
Total incidents
217
875 across 5 years
Building fires
20
78 wildland
Property loss
$4.4M
$3.6M structure · $864K contents
Casualties
0 / 4
0 civ deaths · 1 civ inj · 3 FF inj
01 The mix

What kinds of fires happen here?

Grass fire lead by count. Top five categories make up about 54% of all calls.

217
Total Incidents
Grass fire 30 13.8%
Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire 29 13.4%
Building fires 20 9.2%
Authorized controlled burning 20 9.2%
Unauthorized burning 18 8.3%
All other categories 100 46.1%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in Morrow County?

Jul peaks. Apr dips.

Jan 9
Feb 10
Mar 17
Apr 8
May 15
Jun 22
Jul 64
Aug 17
Sep 19
Oct 14
Nov 9
Dec 13
03 Five-year trend

Year over year in Morrow County

875 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 153
2022 156
2023 178
2024 171
2025 217
04 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 20 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional
41%
40
Cause undetermined
9%
9
Intentional / arson
9%
9
Equipment / heat source failure
15%
15
Under investigation
5%
5
Act of nature (lightning)
21%
4
05 The biggest fires

10 fires · $3.2M in losses

Largest single-incident property losses in Morrow County during 2025. These 10 fires alone account for 90% of the county's total.

#Property lossCityTypeSeverity
1 $1,000,000 Boardman Building fires Major
2 $400,000 Boardman Building fires Major
3 $338,500 Boardman Building fires Major
4 $300,000 Boardman Building fires Major
5 $295,000 Boardman Building fires Major
6 $280,000 Boardman Building fires Major
7 $250,000 Heppner Grass fire Major
8 $150,000 Heppner Cultivated grain or crop fire Significant
9 $150,000 Heppner Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire Significant
10 $75,000 Boardman Road freight or transport vehicle fire Significant
06 How Morrow County compares

Morrow County vs OR vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

28.73
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Morrow County
28.73
OR avg
8.47
US avg
7.15
2.65
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Morrow County
2.65
OR avg
0.83
US avg
0.82
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
Morrow County
0
OR avg
3.8
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in Morrow County

12 cities mapped to FIPS 41049.

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.