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2025 County Report

Fires in Multnomah County, OR

In 2025, fire departments serving Multnomah County responded to 5,524 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $1.5M property loss. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as High.

794,157 residents FIPS 41051 56 cities · 0 fire depts
Total incidents
5,524
18,349 across 5 years
Building fires
397
1,044 wildland
Property loss
$34.0M
$25.5M structure · $8.4M contents
Casualties
3 / 25
3 civ deaths · 19 civ inj · 6 FF inj
01 The mix

What kinds of fires happen here?

Outside rubbish, trash or waste fire lead by count. Top five categories make up about 69% of all calls.

5,524
Total Incidents
Outside rubbish, trash or waste fire 1,940 35.1%
Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire 813 14.7%
Building fires 397 7.2%
Trash or rubbish fire, contained 325 5.9%
Fires in structures other than in a building 310 5.6%
All other categories 1,739 31.5%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in Multnomah County?

Jul peaks. Jan dips.

Jan 130
Feb 509
Mar 376
Apr 430
May 496
Jun 516
Jul 880
Aug 526
Sep 579
Oct 363
Nov 303
Dec 416
03 Five-year trend

Year over year in Multnomah County

18,349 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 1,245
2022 3,055
2023 3,273
2024 5,252
2025 5,524
04 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 397 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional
70%
1,508
Cause undetermined
14%
312
Intentional / arson
7%
157
Equipment / heat source failure
6%
119
Under investigation
0%
4
Act of nature (lightning)
3%
12
05 The biggest fires

10 fires · $10.3M in losses

Largest single-incident property losses in Multnomah County during 2025. These 10 fires alone account for 40% of the county's total.

#Property lossCityTypeSeverity
1 $1,500,000 Portland Building fires Major
2 $1,356,890 Portland Building fires Major
3 $1,356,890 Portland Passenger vehicle fire Major
4 $1,356,890 Portland Passenger vehicle fire Major
5 $1,000,000 Portland Building fires Major
6 $933,790 Gresham Building fires Major
7 $900,000 Portland Building fires Major
8 $767,000 Portland Building fires Major
9 $615,000 Portland Building fires Major
10 $500,000 Portland Camper or recreational vehicle (RV) fire Major
06 How Multnomah County compares

Multnomah County vs OR vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

6.96
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Multnomah County
6.96
OR avg
8.47
US avg
7.15
0.5
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Multnomah County
0.5
OR avg
0.83
US avg
0.82
3.8
Civilian fire deaths per million
Multnomah County
3.8
OR avg
3.8
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in Multnomah County

12 cities mapped to FIPS 41051.

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.