by Cassie Nelson

Wildfires and Risk

What do Oregonians think about wildfires in their area? Is prevention happening? If not, what resources can help keep homes safe?

Community Planning, Environmental Quality, Natural Resource Management

From September 5th to 19th, 2025, the Oregon Values and Beliefs Center (OVBC), in partnership with the Center for Science Communication Research at the University of Oregon (UO), conducted a statewide survey of Oregonians’ decisions concerning wildfire prevention and action.

The question numbers in this document correspond with the accompanying Questionnaire Totals and Crosstabs data files. For survey full question wording, all statistically significant subgroup findings, and respondent quotes, readers are encouraged to refer to the accompanying documents located at the bottom of this post under “For More Information”: (1) questionnaire totals, (2) crosstabulations, and (3) verbatim written responses spreadsheet (upon request).

Due to rounding, the percentages reported below may not add up to 100% or compare exactly to the percentages for the same question in the Questionnaire Totals or Crosstabs. Included below are noteworthy subgroup variations for age, gender, area of the state, BIPOC/white, etc, for selected questions. The accompanying set of tabs notes subgroup variations for each question.

NOTE: Unless otherwise noted, each statement summarizing noticeable differences captures a comparison within an identification category. For example, if respondents aged 75 and older show higher support for a particular statement, this refers to a comparison with other age groups.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

  • Fewer than half of Oregonians know how to protect their homes from wildfire.
  • Most Oregonians agree that wildfires are increasing nationwide, yet that level of agreement declines when the focus shifts to where they currently live.
  • Oregon renters and homeowners report similar levels of perceived wildfire risk and concern about potential home damage within the next three years.
  • Regardless of region or whether respondents believe global warming is natural or human-caused, a robust majority of Oregonians believe more should be done to reduce global warming.

PERCEIVED WILDFIRE RISK

Oregonians are more likely to perceive an increase in wildfires across the country (83%) than in their local area (54%) [Q4, Q3].

Only 23% think their home can withstand wildfires [Q7], and a strong majority feel motivated to protect their home against wildfires regardless of their identity or where they live [Q8].

  • Motivation to protect homes against wildfire is bipartisan, with no differences between political affiliations. Oregonians who live rurally express the highest motivation to protect their homes (78%) [Q8].

Most Oregonians say wildfires pose a low risk for their current living situation (54%) [Q2].

  • Rural areas of Oregon report higher risk concerns (33%) than those who live in urban areas (13%)[Q2].

Only 12% of respondents are very or extremely fearful that their home will be damaged by a wildfire in the next 3 years.

  • People with children in the household (23%), BIPOC Oregonians (21%) and those 18-44 years of age (18%) express slightly more fear their home will be damaged by wildfire in the next three years [Q9].
  • Homeowners and renters report similar levels of both perceived wildfire risk and concern about potential home damage.

GLOBAL WARMING: WORRIES, BELIEFS, CONTEXT

Three in four Oregonians believe global warming is happening [Q26]. While most Oregonians agree that global warming is happening, they are less united on what’s driving it—natural changes or human activity [Q27]. 40% believe it is mostly human-caused, with another 23% saying warming is somewhat more human-caused than natural changes in the environment. 19% say it’s due to natural changes. The remaining respondents (19%) say that global warming is equally affected by both nature and humans.

Those most likely to say global warming is happening include [Q26]*:

  • Oregonians living in the Tri-County area (82%)
  • People aged 75 and older (84%)
  • Those with at least a four-year college degree (85%)

Those more likely to say global warming is caused by human activities include [Q27]*:

  • People with a 4-year degree (73%)
  • Oregonians living in the Tri-County area (83%)
  • Views do not differ by much age (58-66%)

No matter what Oregonians believe, only 13% are not at all worried about global warming [Q28].

  • Older respondents (55-64: 21%, 65-74: 17%, and 75+: 15%) are more likely to express that they are NOT worried about global warming compared to those younger (18-29: 6%, 30- 44: 10%) [Q28].
  • Interestingly, people with kids in the household are NOT more worried about global warming than those without kids.

Across demographics—including political affiliation—a strong majority agree that more action is needed to reduce global warming. This holds true in every region of Oregon [Q29].

Even among those who say they do NOT believe global warming is happening:

  • 42% said more should be done to reduce global warming.
  • 58% feel motivated to protect their home against wildfires.

KNOWING WHAT TO DO ABOUT FIRES

Only four in ten Oregonians know how to protect their homes from wildfires [Q5]. Adults ages 18–29 report the lowest level of knowledge, though they are just as motivated to protect their homes from wildfire [Q8].

Those more likely to have less information about protecting their homes include:

  • Younger adults (ages 18–29) (50%)
  • BIPOC residents (44%)
  • High school graduates or less (42%)
  • Renters (42%)
  • People with kids <19 (42%)

(NOTE: If you would like information on wildfire prevention methods and how to keep your house safe, scroll to the bottom of this post and find “Additional Information” for extra links and resources.)

WILDFIRE PREVENTION MEASURES

Only a small share of Oregonians have taken wildfire response actions [Q11-20]. The most likely action is having a go-kit ready—19% of Oregonians have already taken this step to prepare, while 53% would be very or extremely willing to do so [Q20]. Another popular method of prevention is creating an evacuation plan [Q19]; 15% already have a plan in place, and 56% are very or extremely willing to create one.

The least popular methods of prevention are relocating to a different area [Q11] and paying a fee to apply for FEMA aid [Q13]. Around one in three Oregonians say they are not at all willing to relocate due to wildfire (35%), and 37% are only moderately or slightly willing. Paying a fee to apply for FEMA aid also receives low support, with only 17% of Oregonians saying they would be very or extremely willing to do so.

Those most likely to have already invested in home protection from wildfires such as using Class A fire-rated roof and non-combustible gutters/downspouts [Q15], using ignition-resistant lawn furniture [Q16], replacing siding with fire-resistant material [Q17], or creating a 5-ft barrier between their home and flammable vegetation [Q18] include:

  • Oregonians 65+ of age
  • Homeowners
  • Households making $150,000 or more a year
  • Those who live in rural areas of Oregon
  • Those without children

Most Oregonians are unwilling to relocate due to wildfires.

  • Older Oregonians are less likely to relocate than younger. Around half (46%) of adults aged 18-29 express they are unwilling to relocate, a number that jumps to 73% for those 75 and older.

SUMMATION QUOTES – Amaury Vogel, Executive Director

“Homeowners and renters report similar levels of perceived wildfire risk, concern about potential damage to their homes over the next three years, and motivation to protect their homes from wildfire. These findings challenge the common perception that renters care less or are less invested in looking after the places where they live, showing that feelings of safety and risk are more closely tied to where people live than to whether they own their home.”

“People with fewer years of formal education, BIPOC residents, younger adults (ages 18-29), and renters don’t feel like they know what steps they can take to better protect their homes from wildfire. Because these groups are more likely to experience other factors associated with economic hardship, getting them the information they need to safeguard their homes is particularly important.”

FOR MORE INFORMATION:

Visit OSU Extension’s Catalog:

Visit the Oregon State Fire Marshal Defensible Space Webpage:

METHODOLOGY

The online survey consisted of 1,783 Oregon residents ages 18+ and took approximately 10-15 minutes to complete. This is a sufficient sample size to assess Oregonians’ opinions generally and to review findings by multiple subgroups. Respondents were contacted by using professionally maintained online panels. In gathering responses, a variety of quality control measures were employed, including questionnaire pre-testing, validation, and real-time monitoring of responses. To ensure a representative sample, demographic quotas were set, and data was weighted by area of the state, gender, age, race, political party, and education.

OVBC surveys currently use aggregated data to analyze the opinions of BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) residents in comparison to the opinions of residents who identify as white and not another race. BIPOC residents are not a homogeneous population, instead, they represent a wide diversity of races and ethnicities. The findings included in this memo should not be construed such that all people of color are believed to share the same opinions. Disaggregated race data will be provided when sample sizes permit reliability.

Each respondent in this survey received one of four differing introduction paragraphs discussing wildfires and/or climate change. We did not observe any meaningful differences in respondent answers based on the paragraphs they were shown.

Statement of Limitations: Any sampling of opinions or attitudes is subject to a margin of error. The margin of error is a standard statistical calculation that represents differences between the sample and total population at a confidence interval, or probability, calculated to be 95%. This means that there is a 95% probability that the sample taken for this study would fall within the stated margin of error if compared with the results achieved from surveying the entire population. This survey’s margin of error for the full sample is ±2.32% 

Downloadable Report and Data Files:

OVBC Wildfires and Risk Questionnaire Totals 2025 OVBC Wildfires and Risk Crosstabs 2025
UO Wildfire Decision-making Memo (5)Download

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Oregon Values and Beliefs Center (OVBC): This research was completed by the Oregon Values and Beliefs Center as a community service. OVBC is an independent and non-partisan organization and an Oregon charitable nonprofit corporation. Representative OVBC projects include a series of in-depth business interviews for the Columbia County Economic Team, as well as an extensive opinion research study about Oregonian’s values and beliefs, in partnership with over 20 organizations (Learn more about the 2023 Typology Study).

The Center for Science Communication Research at The University of Oregon: The University of Oregon (UO) is a public research university. The Center for Science Communication Research (SCR) is housed in the School of Journalism and Communication at UO. Their mission is to make complex information useful to improve people’s lives.