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2025 County Report

Fires in Polk County, OR

In 2025, fire departments serving Polk County responded to 364 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $368K property loss. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as Moderate.

40,776 residents FIPS 41053 38 cities · 0 fire depts
Total incidents
364
1,619 across 5 years
Building fires
51
62 wildland
Property loss
$2.0M
$1.4M structure · $623K contents
Casualties
0 / 0
0 civ deaths · 0 civ inj · 0 FF inj
01 The mix

What kinds of fires happen here?

Authorized controlled burning lead by count. Top five categories make up about 51% of all calls.

364
Total Incidents
Authorized controlled burning 55 15.1%
Building fires 51 14.0%
Power line down 32 8.8%
Unauthorized burning 25 6.9%
Outside rubbish, trash or waste fire 24 6.6%
All other categories 177 48.6%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in Polk County?

Jul peaks. Nov dips.

Jan 16
Feb 18
Mar 28
Apr 42
May 30
Jun 33
Jul 55
Aug 36
Sep 25
Oct 45
Nov 15
Dec 21
03 Five-year trend

Year over year in Polk County

1,619 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 416
2022 288
2023 282
2024 269
2025 364
04 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 51 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional
45%
32
Cause undetermined
17%
12
Intentional / arson
18%
13
Equipment / heat source failure
13%
9
Under investigation
7%
5
Act of nature (lightning)
0%
0
05 The biggest fires

10 fires · $1.1M in losses

Largest single-incident property losses in Polk County during 2025. These 10 fires alone account for 82% of the county's total.

#Property lossCityTypeSeverity
1 $367,500 Dallas Building fires Major
2 $150,000 POLK COUNTY Building fires Significant
3 $105,220 Dallas Building fires Significant
4 $102,200 Dallas Building fires Significant
5 $100,000 Dallas Building fires Significant
6 $97,720 Dallas Building fires Significant
7 $65,000 Monmouth Passenger vehicle fire Significant
8 $50,000 Dallas Building fires Significant
9 $50,000 Dallas Fire in motor home, camper, recreational vehicle Significant
10 $50,000 POLK COUNTY Building fires Significant
06 How Polk County compares

Polk County vs OR vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

8.93
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Polk County
8.93
OR avg
8.47
US avg
7.15
1.25
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Polk County
1.25
OR avg
0.83
US avg
0.82
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
Polk County
0
OR avg
3.8
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in Polk County

12 cities mapped to FIPS 41053.

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.